It will be chaired by Jon Lezamiz, African Market Development Director at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, the leading wind turbine manufacturer in the continent with over 50 percent of the installed capacity in the market.
The African wind market is set to add 6 GW of additional wind capacity between 2019 and 2023, more than doubling current total capacity of 5.3 GW, according to GWEC Market Intelligence’s Market Outlook Q1 2019. According to analyst Wood Mackenzie, Africa is set to grow at an annual compound growth rate of 24 percent between 2019-2018, adding 33GW of new capacity.
Lezamiz said, “We at GWEC have not only an opportunity but the duty to share our global experience with Africa, to unlock the full potential of wind power – such as lowest LCOE energy source- and harness its development to enable economic growth and permit access-to-energy targets to be met in the Continent.”
GWEC CEO Ben Backwell added, “Africa has a unique opportunity to leap-frog obsolete fossil fuel generation and create the power generation it needs from wind power and other renewables technologies. If we can help create the right regulatory frameworks and knowledge transfer, Africa’s growing economies will soon be powered by cheap, efficient wind power.”
The new task force was established during the WindEurope Conference, held in Bilbao, Spain, in April to bring together leading developers, investors and manufacturers, alongside technical experts and intergovernmental organizations.
The Task Force intends to:
