Nigeria and 13-member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have become beneficiaries of a new innovation aimed at transforming the region’s energy landscape.
The other countries are: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, GuineaBissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
The development is sequel to the announcement by GE Vernova Inc that its GridOS® orchestration software had been deployed in the newly completed Information and Coordination Centre (ICC) in Abomey-Calavi, Benin for the West African Power Pool (WAPP).
According to the statement, this is a groundbreaking initiative aimed at transforming the region’s energy landscape. It added that the recently inaugurated ICC would serve as the centralised command centre for the mainland member countries of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), overseeing the interconnected power grids of 14 nations, namely Benin, BurkinaFaso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
It added that this milestone marked a significant step towards establishing a unified power market across the region, paving the way for a more reliable, sustainable, and affordable energy infrastructure for West Africa.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) Africa Energy Outlook 2022 report 1, Africa’s GDP is expected to grow by an average of 4.6 per cent per year between 2022 and 2040. This economic growth is expected to drive up energy demand by 2.8 per cent per year, with electricity consumption expected to double by 2040.
By expanding power capacity, enhancing forecasting capabilities, and ensuring a seamless balance between generation and demand across borders, the West Africa Power Pool powered by the ICC is bridging the gap between energy needs and reliable supply.
The statement explained that the ICC is a state-of-the art facility equipped with the latest electric grid management technologies. It explained that elements of GE Vernova’s GridOS software portfolio were deployed in the facility to enable more secure, reliable grid orchestration.
It added that the software was designed to help utilities achieve the resiliency and flexibility needed for a more sustainable energy grid. It said: “The ICC is using several of the portfolio’s intelligent grid applications, including: Energy Management System (EMS) engineered for dispatching, Wide Area Monitoring System (WAMS) designed for grid stability.
“Advanced Market Management System designed to support the trading of power among ECOWAS countries. “The ICC technology platform has also been upgraded with GE Vernova’s GridOS forecasting solution to enhance the value of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) on the electricity market with advanced forecasting and ramping tools.
Through this integration, engineers will have near real-time access to data on energy flow across the WAPP interconnected network, enabling them to monitor, analyze, and optimize the distribution of power.”
General Manager, GE Vernova’s Grid Software business, Mahesh Sudhakaran, said the innovation would help overcome energy challenges in the ECOWAS zone.