Surging Demand For Electricity Gives Way To Solar Supply in Africa

Cut in half by the equator, sunshine is one thing that Africa has in abundance.

Now a growing number of African enterprises are tapping this under-utilised source to keep their businesses running.

One of Kenya's largest tea producers, Williamson Tea, has installed a 1 megawatt (MW) plant at an estate in the Rift Valley, slashing grid reliance by nearly a third and reducing the need for back-up diesel generators.

To put this in perspective, a single MW can generally power several hundred middle-class households.


SolarCentury, the company behind Williamson Tea's installation, has also been contracted to build an 858 kilowatt plant on the parking lot of a Nairobi mall, and says there is a potential 40 MW pipeline across four east African countries.

"One thing many countries in Africa have is plenty of sunshine and now we are at a stage where the cost of solar technology can enable them to use that sunshine to get low cost power," said SolarCentury's regional director Dan Davies.

The British-based firm targets intensive energy users such as flower farms that need to keep cut roses refrigerated well in advance of Valentine's or Mothers' Day.

Over-stretched African national grids often lapse into darkness as rapid economic growth piles pressure on electricity networks already lagging demand.