Africa, Middle East install 894 MW of wind power in 2019 - GWEC

Wind farm in Egypt. Author: Gigi Ibrahim. License: Creative Commons, Attribution 2.0 Generic

Countries in Africa and the Middle East installed a combined 894 MW of wind power in 2019, which represents a 7% decline compared to 962 MW added in the year before, according to the latest data released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Africa and the Middle East have now accumulated over 6 GW of installed wind capacity, to which an estimated 10.7 GW will be added in between 2020 and 2024, GWEC forecasts. This growth will be driven mostly by the build-out expected in four countries.

GWEC data is summarised in the table below:

Wind power leaders in Africa and the Middle East
Country	Capacity installed in 2019	Country	Capacity growth in 2020-2024 (GWEC projections)
Egypt	262 MW	South Africa	3.3 GW
Morocco	216 MW	Egypt	1.8 GW
Jordan	190 MW	Morocco	1.2 GW
Ethiopia	120 MW	Saudi Arabia	1.2 GW

South Africa’s leadership in wind installations will be cemented thanks to past tenders, which have resulted in 1.3 GW of capacity currently under construction, as well as the future ones that will be directed by the new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019.

Besides Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia, wind power growth is expected in other countries across North Africa and the Middle East as maturing projects come online.

GWEC sees strong potential for wind in Sub-Saharan Africa, and especially in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, which could unlock as much as 18 GW alone in markets such Zambia, Tanzania, Namibia and Mozambique.

According to GWEC CEO Ben Backwell, for Africa and the Middle East to reap full benefits of wind power, they will have to address challenges such as “policy and power market frameworks, transmission infrastructure bottlenecks, and off-taker risk.”

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!

More stories to explore