Since we released the Roadmap, Power Africa has expanded to more than 160 partners, including new government and donor partners, and even more of the world’s top energy and technology companies.

In the Power Africa Roadmap, published in 2016, we illustrated how the collective effort of Power Africa’s public and private sector partners were working together to achieve an ambitious goal of adding 30,000 megawatts (MW) of new electricity generation capacity and 60 million new connections by 2030.

This Power Africa Gas Roadmap builds on the Power Africa Roadmap to outline a plan for achieving up to 16,000 MW of additional gas-fired power generation in sub-Saharan Africa by 2030, which is over 50 percent of Power Africa’s topline goal. Exhibit 1 illustrates the anticipated impact of Power Africa support for gas-to-power projects.

Power Africa sees five key reasons to focus on gas:

1. RESOURCE POTENTIAL: Based on known reserves, there is potential for approximately 400 gigawatts (GW) of gas-generated power in sub-Saharan Africa.
2. ECONOMICS: With the drop in global prices, the use of gas has become more attractive, and could replace more expensive fuel sources, thus reducing the cost of energy. With lower prices, businesses can thrive and more people can have access to electricity. In addition, carbon emissions from natural gas usage is much lower than emissions from coal and oil-based fuels like kerosene, diesel, gasoline, and heating oil, as well as burning biomass for cooking.
3. MOMENTUM: Many African countries are actively pursuing programs to grow their gas economies. Not just gas-to-power, but also industrial and transport gas markets.
4. CATALYZATION IMPACT: Decreasing the risk of new projects by improving returns for upstream gas production and proving viability can create stronger markets for gas.
5. DIVERSIFICATION AND FLEXIBILITY: Gas-fired plants complement the generation profiles of renewable sources, thereby increasing the reliability and availability of power.

The Power Africa Gas Roadmap provides a comprehensive framework for defining and coordinating gas-to-power activities supported by Power Africa and partners through 2030. This Roadmap is designed to optimize and leverage Power Africa’s key strengths to achieve a discrete and measurable set of objectives. Although constraints and bottlenecks to the development of gas-fired power generation still exist, new gas discoveries–in combination with advances in technology and increasing activity from domestic and international investors–have produced the conditions for an “African Gas Revolution.” Power Africa is uniquely positioned to achieve this revolution and drive real outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa’s gas-to-power markets.