Enlit Africa, CTICC, Cape Town, South Africa 16 - 18 May 2023Your inclusive guide to Africa's energy transition

Energy Access

Access to modern energy services is crucial to social development and to a country’s economic development. With over 700 million people without access to power and electricity in Africa, this session unpacks the ideal models to finance access in Africa and explores alternative models to connect a scattered population and non-traditional communities.

Affordability

There are only 3 countries in Africa that have cost-reflective tariffs. This session explores why this is and considers the feasibility of a cost-reflective tariff for African utilities along with challenge of affordability for consumers. Local and regional case studies will be employed to show what is working and what is not. This session discusses the critical role stakeholder engagement can play in achieving balance outcomes for tariff discussions.

Reliability

This session aims to enhance the performance of utilities by improved service delivery, reliability of supply and quality of supply.

Financing generation

South Africa was offered $8.5bn to help with energy transition from coal to renewable energy, but experts say the model is not necessarily transferrable to other African countries. This is a deep dive session that shows what developing countries should do to gain access to sustainable funding and unpacks the financial implications of the energy transition to African countries.

Mini/microgrids and energy access

Mini grids can provide high-quality uninterrupted electricity to nearly half a billion people in unpowered or underserved communities and be a least-cost solution to close the energy access gap by 2030. This session reveals not just how to realise the full potential of solar mini grids but how governments and industry must work together to systemically identify opportunities and continue to drive costs down and overcome barriers to financing.

Productive Use of Energy 2.0: Unlocking the true value of energy access

This session will focus on the changing nature of the PUE landscape. It looks at the innovation and models for scaling PUE deployment, discusses the challenges hindering the deployment of large-scale PUE promotion, especially in off-grid areas.

Understanding energy storage

Energy storage today is regularly used as a source of energy supply, such as backup power, or a tool for improving renewable energy production. But global discussions on using storage as a part of energy transmission or distribution infrastructure have started. This session looks at the critical role storage play in energy transition.

Considerations when implementing storage

This session will take participants on a journey of what need to be in place before considering investing in a storage facility and answers the top frequently asked question about Battery Energy Storage.

Unpacking the project timeline

The growth of renewable energy means more demand for energy storage. This session discusses the types of energy storage and the incentives that are supporting its development. We examine the financing aspects and the energy storage in Africa today and then unpacks the project timeline.

Technical presentations

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of smart and other metering technology in Africa.

Metering / Meter Tampering / Revenue management

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of smart and other metering technology in Africa.

Distribution / Metering / Revenue management

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving distribution delivery, deployment, and operation in Africa.

Revenue generation

One of the most popular questions asked is how utilities can still make sustainable profits amid rolling blackouts and the introduction of sseg into the market. This session highlights next-level strategies for utilities to grow their financial and revenue base and practical ways to do so in a post-covid environment. This session also looks at business development and revenue collection strategies and proposes debt restructuring alternatives and practical ways to managing bad debt.

Utility performance

Most state-owned utilities in Africa perform poorly as providers of electricity, in part because politicians and officials use their power for self-gain and the board can’t control runaway corruption. This session considers ways in which government might seek to achieve world-class utility performance without privatising through proven business models, asset maintenance and Skills Development.

SECTOR COUPLING: Energy and mobility In collaboration with Smarter Mobility Africa

Hydrogen

Hydrogen plays an essential role in energy transition, which offers opportunities for economic growth and environmental benefits. This panel discussion session will focus on pros and cons of hydrogen energy and whether it has a role to play in the global green energy transition or not.

Battery storage

Pioneering organisations are already building radical high-tech eco-facilities, geared to go off-grid. This session looks at top considerations – paybacks, ongoing costs, initial investment, base load, generation capacity.

So, you want to go off-grid?

The last few years in South Africa have accelerated the appetite for energy storage infrastructure. Load shedding in South Africa is costing the economy millions of rands, per stage, per day. And it’s not stopping. This session provides a 360-degree analysis for installing your own energy storage system. The session explores two main area that you need to understand before you start with your project:

.Technical and standards
.Regulatory

Projects in action

Projects in Action is a showcase of selected successfully implemented energy storage solutions across Africa.

Projects in:
Health facilities
Refugee camps

Yes, but can you wheel your energy?

This session will bust the myths associated with wheeling, revealing why a good wheeling framework is critical in the energy transition.

Generation

Eskom says that it will need 53,000MW of new additional generation capacity over the next 10 years to ensure energy security in South Africa.

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of generation assets in Africa.

Renewable and IPPS

The changing energy production landscape is increasingly being driven by private sector. Discussions during this session will focus on the new landscape facing IPPs, from regulation to contract negotiations and will touch on challenges such as renegotiating PPAs during time of stress and financial uncertainty.

Procurement of financing

Funding is one of the biggest challenges in developing power projects. Yet, with the announcement of climate funds and finance available by multilateral development banks exceeding $151,129 million in 2021, how difficult is it to access funding; and what are expectations as it relates to governance and “justness”.

Public and Community Ownership

This session explores how communities can become part of the solution through equitable access and ownership of energy, building a vibrant, inclusive energy democracy model for Africa. We will unpack the role of policymakers at all levels of government and other stakeholders in the transition to renewable energy, adopting Energy Democracy principles that centre social and economic justice in the transition to renewable energy.

Productive Use of Energy and energy justice

Promoting the productive uses of energy is an important aspect in designing and implementing energy projects in Africa. This session looks at how renewable projects can fulfil the “productive use” obligation in recognition of the fact that the provision of energy in itself is not the end goal, the development service it enables is.

Energy transition

Transmission / Asset Maintenance / Substations and Switchgear

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of transmission assets in Africa.

Asset maintenance and management

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of transmission assets in Africa.

Transmission / Asset Maintenance / Substations and Switchgear

These practical, implementation focused sessions will provide participants with possible solutions to improving delivery, deployment, and operation of transmission assets in Africa.