The African Union (AU) has articulated a vision for a continent-wide interconnected power system (the Africa Single Electricity Market (AfSEM)) that will serve 1.3 billion people across 55 countries, making it one of the biggest electricity markets in the world. Interconnection offers immense technical and economic opportunity1, while a fully integrated and competitive market will accelerate development and energy access across the continent. Increasingly, the enhanced system flexibility and resilience of an interconnected power system is also an imperative for a modern power system able to navigate the developments impacting global energy systems: growing shares of low-cost variable renewable energy; commitments to climate change and decarbonisation, decentralisation and democratisation of energy; intelligent grid infrastructure and digitalisation of the energy sector; infrastructure resilience in the face of climate risks; and the rise in energy storage technology and electric vehicles.
Concrete steps have been taken towards realising the broader vision described by the AfSEM together with the AfDB’s new deal for energy and clean energy corridor concepts. Among these is the development of a Continental Power System Masterplan (CMP) expected to create the framework conditions that will allow countries to trade electricity to leverage national and regional surpluses and deficits through cross border power exchanges and inter power pool trade. This harmonized platform will aid optimised project decision-making regarding the location, size and timing of generation and transmission infrastructure investments.
The CMP is being developed under the governance structure of AUDA-NEPAD (the African Union Development Agency) with direction from ministerial committees to ensure political and technical alignment. Development spans two phases (Figure 1) and is implemented over several years, with targeted completion by the end of 2023.
In parallel, several studies are being developed to help refine and enhance the CMP (Figure 1). These specific support studies (SSS) aim to inform or complement the planning of the CMP, providing a clearer understanding of the potential contribution to the continental power system or the potential for adjacent developmental opportunities.
