West Africa Wind Energy Storage Group

What is the West Africa Energy Program?

The West Africa Energy Program run by US AID’s Power Africa division includes support for five solar projects which will provide about 150MW of electricity, including the Kodeni and Nagréongo solar plants in Burkina Faso and a 250MW solar / hydropower hybrid plant in Ghana.

What is the West African renewable power database (warpd)?

The database of the present and future hydro, solar and wind power projects in West Africa developed for this work is named the West African Renewable Power Database (WARPD). It combines information from existing databases, scientific papers, technical project descriptions, newspaper articles and tender documents for future projects.

Where in West Africa is the biggest power generation project?

There are significant power generation projects planned or underway in most parts of West Africa, with regional economic heavyweight Nigeria the most active market and also home to the biggest scheme: the 3GW Mambilla hydroelectric plant.

Can smart management of hydropower plants support grid integration in West Africa?

We demonstrate that smart management of present and future hydropower plants in West Africa can support substantial grid integration of solar and wind power, limiting natural gas consumption while avoiding ecologically harmful hydropower overexploitation.

Are hydro-solar–wind synergies important for West Africa's renewable potential?

We show that pooling regional resources and planning transmission grid expansion according to spatiotemporal hydro–solar–wind synergies are crucial for optimally exploiting West Africa’s renewable potential.

Can solar & wind power save Ghana's energy demand?

For instance, the solar/wind contribution of 28 TWh yr –1 to total RE generation under the middle bound of the power pool scenario can directly avoid 28 TWh yr –1 of electricity from natural gas, roughly Ghana’s expected on-grid power demand by 2030 (ref. 30 ).