Africa’s solar energy potential makes for a bright future for renewable power

Deep in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, south of the Kalahari Desert, a beaming light towers above dozens of solar mirror panels.

- By MOGOMOTS! MAGOME

The mirrors tilt to varying degrees throughout the day, tracking the sunrays and projecting them onto a tower. The tower houses a receiver that absorbs intense heat, boils water and produces high-pressure steam. This is then converted into 50 megawatts of electricity — enough to power over 40,000 households for 24 hours.

The KHI Solar One project is one of many looking to add renewable energy to South Africa's power grid, which is heavily reliant on coal-fired power stations.

However, as hundreds of delegates prepare to gather in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa for the Africa Climate Summit this week, it's clear that many more such projects are needed to bring electricity to millions of people on the continent who need it and to fight the impacts of climate change.