According to the African Solar Industry Association (AFSIA) report, several african nations are on path to joining the gigawatt club. To date, close to 700 GW of PV has been installed worldwide. Some countries adopted solar sooner than others and already rely on large solar installed capacities after almost 15 years of installations being commissioned. Other countries were slower to embrace solar and be able to enjoy its benefits but they are rapidly catching up. Overall, 37 countries across the world have already installed more than 1 GW of solar. The Gigawatt club is the unofficial name of the group of countries that have passed 1 GW mark.
Out of these 37, only 2 African countries are members of the Club (South Africa and Egypt). This is very little, but it may soon change as different African countries have developed a growing appetite for solar recently. South Africa and Egypt, which are already in the Gigawatt Club, will continue their solar journey and add sizable capacities to their grid.
As per the report Algeria, with a 4 GW pipeline, is a major contender for the gigawatt club.
Neighboring Morocco, which has put in place a more transparent and efficient tender and development process over the years, has plans to add almost 2 GW of new projects in the coming years and has just entered a crucial stage of the Noor PV II – Phase 1 400 MW tender, the report added.
Highlighting briefly renewable energy developments in other African nations, the report noted that Libya has launched a National Plan for Developing Solar Energy with the aim of achieving 10 percent renewable contribution to the electricity mix by 2025.
In Mauritania, there is a government target to expand solar energy to 20 percent of the total energy sources by 2020 and 35 percent by 2030 while Tunisia aims to reach a production of 3.6 GW by 2030 under an ambitious solar strategy.
The report said another ambitious plan in Morocco aims to boost renewable energy to 50 percent of the energy mix by 2030 and 100 percent by 2050.
