Electricity demand is soaring in Northern Africa nations (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt) due to economic development, rising living standards, and other factors, but the existing power infrastructure is severely inadequate to handle it. Supply is plunging because of spiking demand in hot summers, threadbare infrastructure, political instability (especially since the 2011 Arab Spring), financing restrictions, and inadequate regulatory frameworks. Even so, power generation projects and structural reforms to support them are pushing forward in this region — and in many cases renewable energy is the best solution, particularly tapping into solar and wind resources, according to recent analysis from Frost & Sullivan.
Total power installed capacity in the North Africa region was roughly 61.6 GW in 2012, with renewable energy (mostly hydro) accounting for nearly 10 percent of that (6 GW). Total installed power capacity likely will double by 2020 to 120 GW. Four of the five nations rely heavily on natural gas (Morocco, with few resource options, mainly uses coal), and likely will continue to do so through the end of this decade — but all of them have lofty ambitions for developing renewable energy to offset acute power shortages especially in summer months, according to Frost & Sullivan industry analyst Celine Paton, author of the report Power Infrastructure Tracker in Northern Africa.
Each of these nations has a significant pipeline of power capacity projects, including ambitions for a lot more renewable energy, but when and how those plans materialize depends greatly on government stability and reforms both economic and regulatory — i.e. formation of independent electricity bodies and addressing electricity subsidies for conventional fossil fuel generation.
Here's a nation-by-nation summary of renewable energy drawing boards in Northern Africa:
renewableenergyworld