Sub-Saharan Africa is undergoing unprecedented energy transition and growing electricity demand. With population expansion and accelerated industrialization, the regional power deficit continues to widen. While the installed capacity of renewable energy grows at an annual rate of 12%, the power transmission system still faces multiple challenges: traditional transmission technologies struggle to accommodate the volatility of high-penetration wind and solar power integration; cross-border power interconnection projects suffer from low efficiency due to inconsistent technical standards; transmission line operation and maintenance rely heavily on manual inspections with insufficient intelligence; and multi-energy complementary systems lack collaborative optimization capabilities. These issues severely constrain the achievement of energy security and sustainable development goals.
Renewable energy resources in Sub-Saharan Africa are unevenly distributed—for instance, East Africa is rich in hydropower, while West Africa has abundant solar energy. Flexible transmission technologies are needed to enable cross-regional power dispatch, benefiting transit countries and their people. Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa urgently need to enhance the technical proficiency of local teams in key areas such as advanced power transmission technologies, intelligent dispatching, and multi-energy complementary system design.
Against this backdrop, capacity-building training for African power practitioners is imperative. This project focuses on four core technologies: flexible DC transmission, flexible AC transmission, multi-energy complementarity, and intelligent inspection. It aims to systematically improve the theoretical knowledge and practical skills of local technical teams, promote the unification of regional power grid interconnection standards, and facilitate the efficient consumption of renewable energy and power trade.
