Power interchange opportunities in Southern Africa - evolution towards a regional power pool

Author(s):  
K. Akapelwa

Subject Regional power outlook for West Africa. Significance The West African Power Pool (WAPP), institutionalised in 2001, aimed to create a regional power market large enough to attract private investment. Among its 14 member states, WAPP boasts considerable energy resources. Progress has been slow, with chronic power shortages reflecting decades of under-investment in national sectors. Impacts With the exception of hydroelectricity, renewable energy will likely augment not replace traditional power, eg, coal and gas-based. However, 'off grid' renewable electricity generation and transmission systems may be increasingly used for powering remote locations. Facilities such the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa will need to fund many renewables projects initially for them to be viable.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  

South Africa is a country of global, continental and regional strategic importance. It is a global actor with the well-entrenched and long-standing international political and corporate role and presence and relative global strength. It is Africa’s qualitatively largest and strongest diversified economy. It is African continental and Southern African regional power with considerable continental and regional strength. These factors give it enormous advantages and privileges in playing a leading role in African affairs. They also, dialectically, serve as its key challenges it faces in its efforts to structurally transform its society and to contribute towards structural regional and continental restructuring. How given these factors should South Africa strategically invest on its national security in Southern Africa – the region where it has considerable power and authority – a region whose dependence upon it is a dominated process? There is a fundamental need for this process to be substantially reduced for South Africa’s long-term strategic interests. Its sustainable national security and increased progressive role in African affairs require truly regional allies in a requisite position to come to its aid in a period of its urgent need. Weak regional countries crucially depending on South Africa are of less importance to it. The achievement of their sustainable development is in the long-term strategic interests of South Africa in its internal and external relations. It is not only regional countries which need South Africa for their national security. South Africa also critically needs them particularly as a country expected to substantially increase its leading role in the structural regional and continental transformation. Its sustainable national security lies not only with the majority of its people, based on the satisfaction of their interests, investing on its defence, but also with the structurally restructured region walking together with it in the advancement of the structural continental transformation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 33
Author(s):  
Zerubabel G. Tefera ◽  
Maria Nzomo

Despite the considerable energy problem in Africa, it is not clear how the proliferation of regional power pool (RPPs), as the most feasible solution, address the problem by fostering energy cooperation. The main research objective was to analyse and compare the role of RPPs, particularly the Eastern and Southern African power pools (EAPP and SAPP), in fostering energy cooperation and addressing energy security in their respective sub-regions. The study employed a mixed research design. The study targeted 100 leaders and senior experts from the EAPP, SAPP, regional economic communities, financial institutions, scholars, the African Union (AU), and the United Nations. Qualitative data were analysed thematically, while quantitative data was analysed via descriptive and inferential analysis. Simple linear regression models were used to test the hypotheses. From the finding, in Eastern Africa, weak power pool arrangement, EAPP, has contributed significantly to the prevailing energy insecurity ( =.345, p<.05); on the other hand, strong regional power pool in Southern Africa, SAPP, significantly contributes to energy security ( =.323, p< .05), thus depicting that strong RPP is a key predictor of energy security in the region. Based on the findings, the study concludes that the institutionalised attempt to energy security in Africa can address most of Africa’s energy security challenges. However, Africa must embrace the role of these energy security institutions by pursuing a deliberate policy to strengthen them so that its overall integration project, as stipulated in the African Union Agenda 2063, can be materialised.   Received: 12 August 2021 / Accepted: 13 October 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021


2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (1 (245)) ◽  
pp. 64-67
Author(s):  
T.V. Piliposyan

Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is a regional power transmission organization in the United States. Virtual transactions on the SPP markets are sold at auction. There are Real-Time (RT) and Day-Ahead (DA) markets, where you can buy electricity by winning an auction. Virtual transactions are a valuable component of the bilateral market. All market participants have DA and RT series of prices in hourly basis. In this article, we take a large amount of data of DA and RT prices and try to see which distribution function have the returns of RT prices. Then we make a regression between DA and RT prices, to see how they are related to each other.


2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mukheibir

There is growing concern that developing countries, such as South Africa, should reduce their coal dependence for energy generation and look to other cleaner technologies. Hydroelectricity is one such option. A number of potential large hydro sites have been identified in Southern Africa, which form part of the Southern African Power Pool. However, limited information exists on the impact of climate change on these sites and its effect on the viability of the hydroelectric schemes. Using downscaled glob-al circulation model information, projected climate impacts and the potential impact these may have on future hydro schemes are discussed.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document