Energy storage is critical to address Africa's energy challenges and enable greater integration of renewable energy. Currently over 600 million people in Africa live without electricity and energy demand is rising. Africa has great renewable energy potential from solar, wind and other resources but intermittent renewables are difficult to integrate into existing power grids. Energy storage can help stabilize the grid by bridging supply and demand gaps across time and locations. Major energy storage technologies include mechanical, electrochemical and thermal options but many are still too expensive. Increased investment, innovation, supportive policies and strong regulatory frameworks are needed to advance energy storage and revolutionize Africa's energy landscape. Notable existing African projects demonstrate the promise of pumped hydro, battery and other storage technologies.

1. ENERGY STORAGE: A CRITICAL
SOLUTION
Mervin Ekpen Azeta
(Future Energy Leader, World Energy Council &
Completions Engineer, Schlumberger)

2. A DARK CONTINENT?
Image courtesy of NASA/GSFC.

3. ENERGY FAST FACTS
Sadly, more than 600 million of those are in
Africa...
Image courtesy of thisisafrica.me
According to World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2016, 16-17% of global
population live without electricity!!!
..and demand for energy services by households
across the continent is rising significantly...

4. AFRICA’S ENERGY POTENTIAL
Image courtesy of Beyond Ratings Portal..a mix of energy resources!!!

5. IN A RAPIDLY CHANGING ENERGY
LANDSCAPE…
… we cannot afford to STAND BY!!!

6. CLOSING THE GAP
“We’re tired of seeing Africa in the dark…”
Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
WE NEED AN ENERGY REVOLUTION!!!

7. GENERATING RENEWABLE ENERGY IS ONE
THING…
• The traditional grid system requires careful matching of demand and
supply.
• Intermittency - fast daily fluctuations in output – of solar and wind energy
disrupts grid operation.
Here is why:
For areas WITHOUT grid access:
 Taking this energy and making it available off the grid is ALTOGETHER a different
ballgame!
For areas WITH grid access:
 Plugging this seamlessly into the grid is another thing! And this is a HUGE
challenge!

8. WHY ENERGY STORAGE?
An environmentally friendly way reliably add large amounts of
intermittent renewable generation!
Storage, particularly at gigawatt scale, can:
• increase the economic value of solar and wind
• decrease carbon emissions by replace fossil fuel systems
• add flexibility (and stability) to power system infrastructure, operation,
and market design, bridging gaps between supply and demand across
space and over time.

9. ENERGY STORAGE APPLICATIONS
A suite of services…
Source: SNL (2010) Energy Storage for the Electricity Grid

10. ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
Energy storage technologies are classified as follows:
• Mechanical Energy Storage (MES)
By capacity, more than 96% of global energy storage is today made up
of large scale pumped hydro projects. (Ref: IEA Tracking Clean Energy Progress 2016)
PHS Flywheels CAES

11. ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
• Electrochemical Energy Storage (EES)
…lithium ion, advanced lead acid, sodium sulphur, metal air, flow batteries….

12. ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
• Thermal Energy Storage (TES) – such as molten salt
Image courtesy of Cleanleap.com

13. ENERGY STORAGE TECHNOLOGIES
• Chemical Energy Storage (CES) – such as energy converted and
stored as hydrogen.

14. CHALLENGES
• Relative to competing technologies, energy storage technologies are
still TOO expensive.
• Limited FUNDING & SUPPORT for Research, Innovation,
Development, Demonstration and Deployment.
• ILL-EQUIPPED regulatory and market conditions to compensate
storage for the suite of services that it can provide.
• Weak policy reforms, bad governance and corruption, limited
institutional capacity, etc.
• Others include: site topography, political and legal constraints.

15. ADVANCING ENERGY STORAGE
• Economies of scale.
• Technological innovation – higher
energy density, safety, reduced
capacity loss.
• Increased financial support.
• Coordinated policies, mandates,
tax incentives, and subsidies.
• Strong and consistent regulatory &
market frameworks.
Tesla’s Gigafactory, Reno, Nevada, USA.

16. NOTABLE PROJECTS IN AFRICA
• Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme, South Africa.
• Loisaba Conservancy (EES), Kenya.
• SOPRA: Food-processing factory Sustainable Power Plant, (EES), Nigeria.
Installed Capacity: ~193GW

17. THANK YOU!
“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are
confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding
conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too
late. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
- Dr Martin Luther King

18. REFERENCES
• US Department of Energy (DOE) Global Energy Storage Database:
http://www.energystorageexchange.org/
• IEA Technology Roadmap - Energy Storage:
http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/Technol
ogyRoadmapEnergystorage.pdf
• Global Energy Storage Market Overview & Regional Summary Report
2015:
http://neca.asn.au/sites/default/files/media/state_nsw/News%20&%2
0Views/ESC%20Global%20Energy%20Storage%20Report_2015.pdf