According to Richard Doyle of renewable energy consulting firm 3E, tough conditions in key green markets like Europe have played a role in the pivot to Africa.
So too, the healthy returns promised in developing markets.
“There’s been a veritable flood of companies out of their home markets in Europe into developing economies generally and Africa is one of those focal areas.”
However, he added that any “boom” tag had to be qualified by recognising conditions elsewhere.
“If markets were less tight in Europe, would as many developers be in Africa? Almost certainly not,” he said.
And the Global Wind Energy Council secretary general Steve Sawyer says public financing will always play a role in smoothing out erratic investment flows.
However, he said, there was growing understanding among governments that “in order to create a sustainable energy system, a large degree of private investment is required”.
“That level of investment can only be achieved by creating the kind of policy environment which sufficiently reduces the risks to investors such that they are willing to do project finance,” he added.
With just 0.1 percent of the 2011 world market in Africa and the Middle East, the continent is still playing catch up.
Large-upfront costs mean wind is a long way away from overtaking dirtier but cheaper energy sources like coal and gas.
By 2030, wind is only expected to account for two percent of Africa’s power mix, according to the International Energy Agency.
Coal is set to remain king at 37 percent, followed by gas at 32 percent.
“It won’t become a dominant power source but it will become an important contributor to the energy mix,” said the bank’s Mutambatsere.
