The importance of gas as an enabler of the energy transition in Africa is again being highlighted. According to the US Energy Information Administration, natural gas emits almost half the carbon dioxide of coal, making it a viable way to transition to a lower carbon impact.
Kweku Frempong, Area General Manager for West and Central Africa at Aggreko, says governments across the continent must look at creating environments that are conducive to investment in liquified natural gas (LNG) infrastructure and create the demand needed for private companies to invest.
They also need to support the industry through the relevant policies to encourage and support them through this energy transition.
“There is an urgent need to expand in-country gas infrastructure and develop competitive gas markets on the African continent. While we are already seeing a slow increase in the use of gas for energy generation, this accounts for less than 40% of energy in Africa, so there is an opportunity to increase that dramatically to lower the continent’s carbon impact,” he says.
Over the past 10 years, several African countries have announced gas discoveries, with the most recent discovery in Egypt, yet it is estimated that almost 40 countries on the continent currently do not have access to gas and have therefore not introduced gas into their energy mix.
“If you look at countries outside of the United States, where gas exists as a commodity and where LNG is easily accessible for several years already, there is still relatively limited LNG infrastructure. And here investors in the infrastructure need to weigh up the different options, such as physical pipelines or virtual gas pipelines, to ensure that their needs are met,” says Kweku.
“Pipelines can be used, but these tend to only be economic where there are large populations and large users of gas such as cities or coastal areas. But when you get to things like electricity generation, which can be often miles inland, or when you get to mining, it is not economical to run pipelines. Therefore, transporting the natural gas by other means must be an option,” he says.
Story sourced from Africafeeds.com
