West Africa power pool makes slow progress

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db197772 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

West Africa ◽

Private Investment ◽

Regional Power ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

Content Type ◽

Power Pool ◽

Energy Fund ◽

Slow Progress ◽

Renewable Electricity Generation ◽

Power Shortages

Subject Regional power outlook for West Africa. Significance The West African Power Pool (WAPP), institutionalised in 2001, aimed to create a regional power market large enough to attract private investment. Among its 14 member states, WAPP boasts considerable energy resources. Progress has been slow, with chronic power shortages reflecting decades of under-investment in national sectors. Impacts With the exception of hydroelectricity, renewable energy will likely augment not replace traditional power, eg, coal and gas-based. However, 'off grid' renewable electricity generation and transmission systems may be increasingly used for powering remote locations. Facilities such the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa will need to fund many renewables projects initially for them to be viable.

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EU will fund most Greek infrastructure investment

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db241112 ◽

2019 ◽

Keyword(s):

Private Investment ◽

Transport Infrastructure ◽

Infrastructure Investment ◽

Construction Sector ◽

Transport Costs ◽

Fdi Inflows ◽

Content Type ◽

Urban Rail ◽

Slow Progress ◽

New Infrastructure

Subject Infrastructure investment. Significance Investment in infrastructure has high economic multiplier and is a potential driver of growth. Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows remain limited, manufacturing and services failing to attract investor interest; domestic privatisation is making slow progress. Yet transport infrastructure has improved tangibly over the last few years, especially roads, airports and seaports. Impacts New infrastructure works will provide a strong boost to the construction sector. They facilitate related investments, such as Aegean Airlines ordering 42 new aircraft from Airbus, Greece’s largest private investment. Greek tourism will benefit from the planned modernisation of local airports and urban rail. Reduced transport costs will render Greek exports more cost competitive and improve the supply chains of Greek exporters.

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Power Africa could provide long-term electricity boost

Emerald Expert Briefings ◽

10.1108/oxan-db202933 ◽

2015 ◽

Keyword(s):

Power Plants ◽

Large Scale ◽

Thermal Power ◽

Private Investment ◽

Private Capital ◽

Content Type ◽

The Us ◽

Slow Progress ◽

Gas Supply

Subject Tracking progress on Power Africa. Significance US President Barack Obama's five-year Power Africa initiative announced in June 2013 faces growing criticism for slow progress as it approaches its halfway point in December. The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) announced 'critical milestones' for commitments only last month for four flagship projects, two large-scale wind schemes in Kenya and thermal power plants in Senegal and Ghana. Impacts Power Africa will stand as a test of whether infrastructure deficits can be plugged by combining private capital with public guarantees. Private investment will not materialise in sufficient quantities so long as it operates within inefficient state-monopolised sectors. Inefficiencies such as gas-supply problems and subsidies will further undermine the effect of private investment operating on the margins.

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Trust is Good, Control is Better: A Review on Monitoring and Characterization Techniques for Flow Battery Electrolytes

Materials Horizons ◽

10.1039/d0mh01632b ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ulrich Sigmar Schubert ◽

Oliver Nolte ◽

Ivan Volodin ◽

Christian Stolze ◽

Martin D. Hager

Keyword(s):

Energy Storage ◽

Electricity Generation ◽

Large Scale ◽

Good Control ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

Flow Battery ◽

Large Share ◽

Characterization Techniques ◽

Renewable Electricity Generation ◽

Storage Technologies

Flow Batteries (FBs) currently are one of the most promising large-scale energy storage technologies for energy grids with a large share of renewable electricity generation. Among the main technological challenges...

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Procurement, finance and the energy transition: Between global processes and territorial realities

Environment and Planning E Nature and Space ◽

10.1177/2514848621991121 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 251484862199112

Author(s):

Lucy Baker

Keyword(s):

Electricity Generation ◽

Local Level ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Community Empowerment ◽

Renewable Electricity ◽

Middle Income ◽

Middle Income Countries ◽

Asset Class ◽

Renewable Electricity Generation ◽

Utility Scale

Utility-scale renewable electricity generation is essential to decarbonisation as well as to ensuring affordable and secure electricity supplies around the world. Yet thus far there has been limited critical thinking dedicated to the complexities behind the finance and ownership of this new infrastructure and how national and local stakeholders should participate in and benefit from its development, particularly in contexts of high inequality in low- and middle-income countries. As the global renewable energy industry becomes increasingly consolidated and financialised, evidence from a number of countries suggests that despite the pro-environmental outcomes of utility-scale renewable electricity generation, the processes and institutions that procure and finance it have often failed to include or benefit individuals and communities living in the national and local vicinity. This paper therefore sets two key competing objectives of renewable electricity generation in context: as a predictable, long-term revenue stream for investors, and as a mechanism for socio-economic development and community empowerment. Building on scholarship from human geography, development studies and sustainability transitions, my analysis takes forward understandings of the role of finance in utility-scale renewable electricity generation as a key aspect of the political economy of the energy transition. In exploring the evolution of renewable electricity as a new and rapidly emerging asset class I consider how its development is increasingly determined by the frameworks and logics of finance and investment. Drawing on examples from South Africa and Mexico, I address the following questions: What are the evolving configurations and processes of finance and investment in utility-scale renewable electricity generation? How have they been facilitated? And what tensions have arisen from their implementation at the national and local level?

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