🚁 Heli view: What it takes to create grid-scale storage

Here is a foodie glimpse of the future: Grid-scale batteries will be the maize or rice of the global energy sector. 

• They’re chunky and unsophisticated – unlike the tiny batteries in smartphones.

• They use lots of raw materials, but cooking them up does not take infinite finesse. 

Why it matters: Africa may not manufacture iPhone power units anytime soon. But making house-size battery stacks to sit outside towns in Norway or Germany far from African mines — that sounds doable. 

The context: Africa has made great progress in renewable energy generation in the past two decades. 

• Its renewable capacity has reached 18% of the installed total. 

The crux: Generating electricity and being able to consume it are two different things, especially when relying on solar power. 

• Supply levels rarely match demand surges. When the sun goes down, power use often goes up. 

To be sure: This is not a new problem. But traditional energy storage methods are no longer sufficient or even available. 

• Hydro storage, where water is pumped uphill off-peak for release later, is falling out of favour due its cost and environmental concerns.

• Climate change is further undermining traditional storage methods. Frequent droughts are impacting hydropower production.

The challenge: Sustainable economic development requires new methods to store energy at ever greater scale. 

• Lithium-ion batteries and molten salt storage batteries are Africa’s best bet. 

Focus here: The holy grail of energy storage is creating grid-scale batteries. And it’s finally becoming a reality. 

• The growth of the global electric vehicle market has fueled the evolution of lithium-ion batteries, making grid-scale applications more feasible. 

• Economies of scale mean lithium-ion battery prices dropped 88% since 2010. 

• Investments in power storage systems are expected to exceed $50 billion in 2024.

Guess what: Geopolitics is not far behind. Superpowers are keen on power storage.  

• China is at the forefront of grid-scale development with an installed capacity of 27 GW, projected to surpass 57 GW by 2025. 

• America has installed storage capacity of 16 GW. In three years, it has invested $92 billion in the sector. 

Here already: African nations are joining the frenzy. Some are installing Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

• Africa has confirmed BESS developments totalling 1.7 GW of capacity by 2027. 

• Projections show capacity could reach 4.8 GW by 2030 and 7.7 GW by 2040.

• African nations in the BESS Consortium, launched at COP28, aim for a collective 5 GW.

Local disagreement: Some experts suggest focusing on Africa’s broken grids first before diving into storage. 

• The issue varies by country. What’s clear though is the opportunity extends beyond installing storage. 

Big pitch: Resource-rich Africa could become a grid-scale battery manufacturer.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo produces 70% of the world's cobalt, mostly for batteries

• Zimbabwe has substantial lithium reserves. South Africa is rich in manganese and nickel while Mozambique is noted for its graphite reserves. 

First actions: Africa is still a long way from making batteries at a meaningful scale but…

• Morocco is collaborating with Chinese manufacturer Gotion to produce batteries and energy storage systems with a projected capacity of 100 GWs.

• Zambia and the DRC signed agreements to develop an integrated battery value chain, enhancing their positions in the global market.

• South African companies are increasingly investing in local manufacturing capabilities for lithium-ion batteries.

• Ghana is mining lithium and wants to refine both local and imported lithium.

Step by step: The on-ramp for battery production will be in-country processing of the relevant raw materials. That’s the topic to watch when judging further potential.