Huawei is keen to be at the forefront of addressing the issues of sufficient, affordable, and reliable energy supply within Africa. At a recent virtual digital power event, Huang Su, director of Huawei Southern Africa Digital Power Business, emphasized that digital and intelligent technologies can be of great help to bridge the energy gap.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), around 580 million people in the sub-Saharan Africa region lacked access to electricity in 2019. This reveals an urgency to boost the growth of renewable energy usage across the region. In fact, this renewable source is expected to contribute 22% of Africa’s total energy consumption by 2030.
New technologies could boost the continent's efforts to revamp energy infrastructure and reduce carbon emissions, Huang noted. Through photovoltaic (PV) power generation, Africa has an opportunity to harness clean energy and meet growing demand. As Huang pointed out, renewable energy is much cheaper than fossil-fuel-based options, with a kilowatt-hour of solar power costs less than a Rand in South Africa.
Thus, solar power will likely play a large role in the region’s power generation. In line with this, Huawei is eager to introduce digital power solutions in the continent. "The essence of digital power is integrating cloud, AI, and other digital technologies with power generation, storage, and consumption. We are ready and willing to provide our full support for building a green Africa and bridging the energy gap," said Huang.
Generating over 300 billion kilowatts hour (kWh) of green electricity globally, the Huawei smart PV solution has been deployed in more than 60 countries. "Over time, Huawei will deploy more and more scalable power stations. These power stations can be managed and maintained online, further reducing their carbon footprint," explained Huang.
Huang added that Huawei will continue to innovate and enable renewable energy to empower individuals, homes, and organizations. “All ICT requires power supply and Huawei has always provided that to one degree or another. Our efforts in the solar PV space are simply an extension of that.”
As the leading telco remains to be in a unique position to bring electricity, power supply, and data management together, Huawei plans to lead the accelerating journey from bits to watts.
