MORE than 150 gas turbines are expected to be sold in sub- Saharan Africa in the period up to 2014, according to consultants Frost & Sullivan.

The investment in gas turbines will result in an additional 12000MW of electricity in the region by 2014. Frost & Sullivan said several African countries were making investments in order to build a reliable power sector using gas, water and coal. It said gas had emerged as the preferred option because of its quick turnaround time, efficiency and reliability.

Frost & Sullivan said African countries were experiencing power shortages because of insufficient generation. In order to mitigate the power shortages, several countries had shifted to gas turbine-powered plants “as the technology offers a rapid solution and can easily operate on more than one type of fuel”.

SA has its own plans for gas- fired power stations. The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), developer of the Coega Industrial Development Zone near Port Elizabeth, last month said it had issued an expression of interest to parties with the required financial and technical capabilities, inviting participation in building and operating a power station. The combined-cycle gas turbine power plant project, which will provide up to 2400MW, will complement other national power generation programmes.

“Africa is endowed with substantial gas resources for electricity generation, significantly driving growth in this market,” Frost & Sullivan energy programme manager Cornelis van der Waal said. Nigeria, for example, had about 186-trillion cubic feet of gas resources — “enough to power the whole of west Africa for the next 20 years”. More gas resources could be found across the region in countries such as Angola, Nigeria, Gabon and Cote d’Ivoire.

Van der Waal said the availability of resources such as water and coal had hampered the development of the gas turbine market. “The high operational cost of gas technology is significantly hampering the potential growth of this market. The cost is mainly driven by the volatile price of natural gas and the requirement for frequent major maintenance,” Van der Waal said.

There seems to be a growing appetite for gas turbines in other parts of the world, too. Independent power producer Ipsa last month announced it had agreed to sell one of its turbines for 30m to the UK-based Independent Power Corporation. The company plans to build a gas-fired plant in Bolivia. Ipsa has been trying for about a year to sell the four turbines that had been earmarked for a delayed 1600MW combined-cycle gas turbine power station at Coega.

Commenting on the sale at the time, Ipsa CEO Peter Earl said there was a shortage of large gas turbines available for immediate delivery.