“Gas is Critical for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Energy Future,” says GE Gas Power Summit in Cape Town, South Africa
Gas will be critical for creating industry, manufacturing and attracting investment capital
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, February 27, 2020/ -- Energy experts discuss the importance of gas for Africa’s current and future
energy needs;GE’s innovative gas power generation portfolio is providing faster, more reliable, more cost-effective and more environmentally
friendly power for baseload, emergency or clean energy transition needs; Gas will be critical for creating industry, manufacturing and
attracting investment capital.
With recent major gas discoveries in Tanzania, Mozambique, Senegal,
Mauritania and South Africa, Africa is poised to use gas technologies
that are faster, more reliable, more cost-effective and more
environmentally-friendly than coal or oil. To deliberate on the changing trends and future direction of gas in the energy industry, GE (http://www.GE.com) recently hosted the Gas Power Summit for Sub-Saharan Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. The forum brought together senior leaders
from governments, financiers as well as key stakeholders and thought
leaders from utilities and the private sector across the region to
explore industry opportunities and challenges on the future of gas power in sub-Saharan Africa.
During his keynote discussion, Scott Strazik, CEO of GE Gas Power,
emphasized the need for countries in sub-Saharan African to work
together with the private sector to meet the growing energy demands.
“Bridging the energy gap in Sub-Saharan Africa will require continuous,
sequential power improvements and the full involvement of governments,
fuel suppliers, private capital and technology providers. Gas is a
natural choice to help fill the gaps - providing dispatchable, flexible, affordable, and fast power for people and industries - and with more
than 120 years of experience in the region, GE is proud to continue to
help lead these efforts.” Strazik said.
The participants at the forum discussed key trends shaping the energy
sector including the use of technology to drive better efficiencies for
utilities and the use of natural gas to meet the increasing energy
demand. “Energy demand globally is driven primarily by socio-economic
development and Sub-Saharan Africa will need to be creative in how we
manage the energy deficit,” said Hendrik Malan, CEO for Frost &
Sullivan Africa. “Adoption of natural gas is an excellent opportunity
for the region to reduce carbon emissions and balance the energy mix,”
he said.
The modern power grid needs resources that can ramp up and down,
swiftly, efficiently and repeatedly. Operational flexibility is critical for gas turbines that compliment renewable energy as it balances
electric system loads and helps maintain grid reliability. “GE continues to help countries throughout sub-Saharan Africa meet their growing
energy demands. Case in point, our Aero-derivative gas turbines provide fast, reliable power for energy emergencies and power crisis while our
total plant management solutions demonstrates our strength as a single
service provider that understands the full plant-as-a-system impact for
installation, maintenance, repair and upgrade activities,” said Elisee
Sezan, CEO for GE’s Gas Power business in Sub-Saharan Africa. “GE’s
TM2500 mobile aeroderivative gas turbine, for example, can be installed
quickly - in as little as a few weeks - to help alleviate frequent
outages, making them especially well-suited for countries throughout
Africa.” In Angola, GE Gas Power provided emergency power within 30 days just before Christmas, providing emergency power for approximately
100,000 Angolan homes.
GE has been collaborating with energy stakeholders to deploy innovative
technologies tailored to respond to the needs in the region since the
1950s with reliable baseload and flexible emergency power. In 2018, the
company celebrated its 100th power plant in Sub-Saharan Africa and
today, up to 17GW of gas power generation on the grid runs on GE gas
turbines. GE Gas Power’s portfolio consists of advanced technologies and solutions that help build and manage power plant assets and operations
more efficiently.
About GE Gas Power:
GE Gas Power is a world leader in natural gas power technology,
services, and solutions. Through relentless innovation and continuous
partnership with our customers, we are providing more advanced, cleaner
and efficient power that people depend on today and building the energy
technologies of the future. With the world’s largest installed base of
gas turbines and more than 200 million operating hours across GE’s
installed fleet, we offer advanced technology and a level of
experience that’s unmatched in the industry to build, operate, and
maintain leading gas power plants.
For more information, please visit www.GE.com/power/gas and follow GE’s gas power businesses on Twitter (bit.ly/2uDozvW) and LinkedIn (bit.ly/38kehiY)
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