NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The Global Wind Energy Council’s Africa WindPower initiative is delighted to launch the inaugural Status of Wind in Africa report, which provides a stocktake of the wind industry in Africa and delivers a forecast of the continent’s wind energy pipeline. The Status Report provides the foundation for policy discussions and project development to build on and drive the region’s wind development forward through the rest of this decade.

The report identifies 83 installed wind farms across Africa, providing 9 GW of clean power. An analysis of the continent’s project pipeline finds that capacity could increase by more than 900%, with 140 projects planned across Africa, representing another 86 GW of installed capacity on the horizon.

The current capacity and strong pipeline of wind energy show that this region, which is particularly affected by climate change yet has the world best renewable energy resource, is serious about the energy transition.

The Status of Wind in Africa report set out, ahead of the global stocktake at COP28, that Africa is already on the move when it comes to renewable energy development. In Kenya, for example, 17% of total generation comes from wind energy, while Senegal enjoys 15% of its energy from wind. The foundation is there for a rapid scale up on wind energy capacity, as the current forecast capacity still only taps into 0.2% of the continents’ total technical potential capacity, which stands at 33, 642 GW.

The report details the benefits of wind energy development on the continent, with case studies that explore job creation, grid stabilisation and the expansion of complementary technologies like hydropower and solar. It also explores Africa’s strong position for continued wind energy growth through the expansion of regional power pools, green hydrogen production and e-mobility.

Photo courtesy of Usukhbayar Gankhuyag.