By Onome Amuge
The World Bank has projected that 380 million Africans could get access to solar energy and realise the full potential of solar mini grids by 2030 through partnerships between governments and industry players to systematically identify mini grid opportunities, drive costs down, and overcome barriers to financing.
The bank, in a recent report ‘The World Bank’s Mini Grids for Half a Billion People: Market Outlook and Handbook for Decision Makers’, emphasised that solar mini grids can provide high-quality uninterrupted renewable electricity to underserved villages and communities across sub-Saharan Africa and be the least-cost solution to close the energy access gap on the continent in seven years.
According to the international financial institution, 568 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, while nearly eight out of 10 people without electricity globally live in Africa.
Given the current rate of progress which is quite slow compared to other regions of the world,the World Bank said that 595 million Africans will remain unconnected in 2030.
To increase the growth of solar energy penetration in the region,the World Bank encouraged a joint action by governments and industry to realise the full potential of solar power, which it identifies as key to bridging Africa’s energy gap. It also noted that climate action efforts can tap solar mini grids that offer a lower greenhouse gas emission alternative compared to diesel-fueled systems and kerosene-based appliances.
Gabriela Elizondo Azuela, manager of the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP), said while Africa remains the least electrified continent, it also has the biggest potential for solar mini grid deployment.
“Solar mini grids can reach populations today that would otherwise wait years to be reached by the grid. They have the potential to transform the power sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Through World Bank operations and advice to governments, ESMAP is helping take mini grids from a niche to a mainstream solution,” Azuela said.
The World Bank report further noted that the deployment of solar mini grids has markedly accelerated in sub-Saharan Africa, from around 500 installed in 2010 to more than 3,000 in 2023 and a further 9,000 planned for development over the next few years.
This, it explained, is the result of falling costs of key components, the introduction of new digital solutions, a large and expanding cohort of highly capable mini grid developers and growing economies of scale.
It, however, reasoned that further acceleration is needed to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). Powering 380 million people in Africa by 2030 will require the construction of more than 160,000 mini grids at a cumulative cost of $91 billion.
“At the current pace, only around 12,000 new mini grids serving 46 million people will be built by 2030 at a total investment cost of approximately $9 billion,” the report said.
The World Bank also disclosed that it has committed more than $1.4 billion to mini grids over the next seven years, through 38 projects in 29 countries. It highlighted the investment plans of its portfolio to include the deployment of 3,000 mini grids by 2029, with the expectation of bringing electricity to more than 13 million people.
