HYDROELECTRIC POWER STATIONS FUELING AFRICA’S SUSTAINABLE ENERGY TRANSITION

Africa is rapidly emerging as one of the world’s fastest-growing hydropower frontiers. Even though the continent currently utilizes only around 11 percent of its estimated 4 million megawatts of hydroelectric potential, a surge of new construction and large-scale rehabilitation projects is set to add tens of thousands of megawatts to national grids by 2030. These efforts are central to Africa’s pledge to triple renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade and to power industrialisation through clean sources rather than following the carbon-intensive path of earlier industrial powers. From the Ethiopian highlands to the vast Congo River basin, hydropower remains the backbone of the continent’s long-term clean-energy strategy.

No project embodies this momentum more than the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). By late 2025, the 5,150 MW mega-dam on the Blue Nile is generating close to full capacity, making it Africa’s largest power plant and one of the world’s biggest hydroelectric stations. GERD now provides more than 70 percent of Ethiopia’s electricity and has begun exporting surplus power to Kenya, Djibouti, and Sudan through newly completed transmission corridors. Despite years of diplomatic tension regarding downstream water flows, GERD demonstrates that Africa can design, finance, and deliver continent-scale energy infrastructure largely through domestic resources supplemented by Chinese partnerships.

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In Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo is finally moving ahead with harnessing the immense power of Inga Falls. Inga 3, a 14,500 MW run-of-river project long stalled by political and financial hurdles, is now under active construction and slated for phased commissioning between 2028 and 2031. Once operational, it will more than double the DRC’s current installed capacity and supply electricity to South Africa, Zambia, and potentially parts of West Africa through new interconnector projects. The return of major financiers such as the World Bank and the African Development Bank signals renewed confidence after governance reforms aimed at increasing transparency and accountability.

Southern Africa is also experiencing a hydropower resurgence. Along the Zambezi River, the Kariba South Bank Extension, which added 300 MW, and the planned Batoka Gorge project shared by Zambia and Zimbabwe and expected to produce 2,400 MW are helping stabilise a grid increasingly vulnerable to climate-driven droughts. In Mozambique, the upgraded Cahora Bassa hydropower station has boosted capacity to 2,300 MW after turbine modernisation, allowing it to export power to South Africa during peak demand. These examples highlight how upgrading legacy infrastructure from the 1960s and 1970s can yield substantial low-carbon benefits while new mega-projects advance toward completion.

East Africa’s river systems are equally dynamic. In Kenya, the High Grand Falls project on the Tana River expected to come online in 2029 will add 690 MW and significantly expand the country’s hydropower portfolio. Rwanda and Burundi, in partnership with Tanzania, are advancing the 145 MW Rusumo Falls plant along the Kagera River, a notable cross-border collaboration aimed at strengthening regional energy security. In West Africa, Côte d’Ivoire’s Soubré (275 MW) and Gribo-Popoli (112 MW) dams have pushed the nation’s renewable share above 40 percent. Ghana is also bolstering its hydropower assets through expansions at the Bui Dam and the planning of the Pwalugu multipurpose project to enhance power supply and irrigation in the northern regions.

North Africa’s developments include major refurbishments and strategic upgrades. Egypt is extending the operational life of the iconic Aswan High Dam through phased turbine rehabilitation, while Sudan’s Merowe and Roseires dams have undergone height increases to counter siltation and maintain output. Morocco, known more for solar and wind, is diversifying with the 350 MW Abdelmoumen pumped-storage plant near Marrakech, providing essential grid-balancing capability as variable renewables expand.

Yet Africa’s hydropower boom is not without challenges. Community displacement from rising reservoirs, concerns among downstream farmers about altered flow patterns, and environmental debates over methane emissions from tropical reservoirs have become key points of contention. As a result, developers are increasingly required to implement stronger social and ecological safeguards including detailed resettlement plans, downstream flow guarantees, and sediment-management systems that were uncommon in earlier decades.

As the continent pushes toward universal electricity access and long-term net-zero goals, hydropower’s unique advantages baseload capacity, seasonal energy storage, and seamless integration with intermittent sources such as solar and wind make it indispensable. With more than 200 large dams currently under construction or in advanced planning stages, Africa is betting that its rivers, which have shaped its geography and economies for centuries, can also power its future. If current momentum continues, the continent is poised to transition toward a cleaner, more reliable, and self-determined energy system built on African resources, African expertise, and African priorities.