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Tech, renewables earmarked to end Africa’s power woes

July 9, 2021 2:35 pm by: Category: BUSINESS, cloud, Energy, Featured, Governance, Hardware, Investing, Technology Leave a comment A+ / A-

by SAVIOUS KWINIKA 
JOHANNESBURG – A GLOBAL technology firm is backing renewable energy, coupled with technology-driven data and intelligence, to address the massive power challenges afflicting the African continent.

Huawei, the Chinese-headquartered company, singled out South Africa, which currently faces disruptive load shedding and needs to drastically reduce its carbon emissions.

In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population of approximately 1,3 billion still lack access to electricity.

“Beyond that, thousands of hospitals and schools don’t have a stable power supply. This can easily become disastrous,” said Huang Su, Chief Executive Officer of Huawei’s South Africa Digital Energy Business.

He was speaking at the just-concluded virtual Huawei Digital Power Exhibition.

While South Africa is the leading power on the continent when it comes to power generation, Su pointed out, it was currently unable to meet all of its electricity demands.

“There is still a massive gap to be bridged,” Su said.

“We have to ensure we provide sufficient electricity to every African household.”

According to the expert, renewable energy is much cheaper than fossil-fuel-based options, with a kilowatt-hour of solar power costing less than a Rand in South Africa.

South Africa is the 12th biggest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet and the biggest in Africa, according to The Global Carbon Atlas.

Solar power is projected to play a key role in the world’s future power mix.

Amid a strong and urgent need to accelerate the growth of renewable energy across the region to ensure sufficient, affordable, reliable energy supply for individuals, businesses and communities, Huawei is investing in smart photovoltaic (PV) solutions.

By integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and Cloud, Huawei has incorporated its ICT expertise with PV for optimal power generation.

This allows for the construction of highly efficient, safe, and reliable solar power plants with smart operations and maintenance (O&M) and grid support capabilities.

“Over time, Huawei will deploy more and more scalable power stations,” Su added.

“These power stations can be managed and maintained online, further reducing their carbon footprint.”

Su said Huawei was uniquely positioned to integrate electricity, power supply and data management.

“The journey from bits to watts is accelerating and we plan on leading it,” he concluded.

– CAJ News

Tech, renewables earmarked to end Africa’s power woes Reviewed by on . by SAVIOUS KWINIKA JOHANNESBURG – A GLOBAL technology firm is backing renewable energy, coupled with technology-driven data and intelligence by SAVIOUS KWINIKA JOHANNESBURG – A GLOBAL technology firm is backing renewable energy, coupled with technology-driven data and intelligence Rating: 0
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