By: African mining market

The cost of electricity in sub-Saharan Africa is the highest globally, at 3,188% of income per capita—nearly 3.5 times the cost of the next highest region, South Asia. While precise continent-wide GDP loss figures are not universally agreed upon, the World Bank and various academic institutions concur that unreliable and expensive energy supply is a significant inhibitor of competitiveness and economic growth. For industrial operators across mining, manufacturing, and oil and gas, reliable and cost-effective energy is both a development challenge and a risk multiplier; manufacturing enterprises experience an average of 56 days per year in power outages.

This energy instability increases downtime, inflates costs, and reduces competitiveness. With grid unreliability and fuel price volatility becoming the norm, companies are seeking options that provide both a sustainable foothold and a strategic advantage.

As a result, hybrid systems have become increasingly popular. These systems combine solar energy, battery storage, and thermal generation to deliver a flexible, reliable, and cost-effective energy supply. They allow companies to generate power independently of the grid while smoothing out the intermittency challenges often associated with renewables.

Solar energy provides near-zero marginal cost electricity once installed, with batteries storing surplus generation and helping to balance the load. Diesel and gas generators then act as fast-response backup solutions when solar is insufficient. Combined, these three solutions provide operators with the agility to manage costs and guarantee uptime in even the harshest or most remote environments.

According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the global weighted average levelised cost of electricity (LCOE) from utility-scale solar PV fell by approximately 90% between 2010 and 2023, with a further 12% drop in 2023 alone. In high-irradiance African countries, recent studies and project data show that the LCOE for utility-scale solar PV can reach as low as US$0.04 per kWh, particularly in regions with strong solar resources and favourable financing, such as northern Ghana and parts of Botswana and Namibia.

For industrial operators, the financial upside of a hybrid system reliant on solar with stable backup is clear. Clients switching to solar-plus-battery configurations can potentially save up to 15% on fuel costs, depending on irradiance, contract length, and generator runtime. When extended across a multi-site operation, these savings can represent hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

Beyond fuel, hybrid systems also reduce maintenance costs. Fewer generator hours mean less wear and tear, longer service intervals, and a lower chance of unplanned outages. Battery storage smooths power delivery, allowing thermal units to run at optimal loads rather than inefficient partial loads. The payoff is lower operational expenditure, more predictable cost curves, and significantly improved uptime.

Uptime is Africa’s real competitive advantage. Uptime equals revenue, whether from pumping water, refining ore, or processing crops—the difference between 98% and 85% uptime is significant. Hybrid systems directly improve this percentage and energy resilience. During peak solar hours, battery charging maximises renewable usage. At night or in overcast conditions, stored energy is dispatched first, with thermal generators providing final backup. This layered architecture ensures power continuity even during generator failures or sudden weather shifts. In the context of Africa’s often fragile grids, which are prone to loadshedding and voltage dips, control over energy is a lifeline and an asset.

The climate case for hybrid power is also strong. Africa contributes just 3.9% of global carbon emissions but is among the hardest hit by climate shocks. As companies face increased scrutiny over their Scope 1 and 2 emissions, hybrid solutions provide a tangible way to decarbonise without compromising operational goals.

Aggreko’s hybrid model ensures that companies achieve measurable emissions reductions by replacing diesel with solar and implementing smart controls that optimise generator loading and avoid inefficient idling. By introducing systems-level thinking, Aggreko helps companies manage costs and climate responsibilities with solutions that are scalable, modular, and adaptable to Africa’s varied terrain and operational requirements.

Unlike pure renewables, which can be vulnerable to intermittency, or standalone thermal systems, which are exposed to fuel price shocks, hybrid systems offer a practical middle ground. From mining in the DRC to agriculture in Zambia, hybrid energy installations are helping African operators move away from reactive energy spending and towards forward-planned, performance-driven power systems. While many providers support this shift, success depends on hardware, systems design, local experience, and the ability to manage complex energy flows in real-time.