Harnessing African Natural Gas : A New Opportunity for Africa's Energy Agenda?

Sub-Saharan Africa's persistent power shortages act as a severe constraint on its economic and human development. Over the last several years, a series of major offshore gas discoveries in Mozambique and Tanzania have rekindled interest in expanding the use of natural gas to address the continent's power shortages. Once thought of as a Nigeria-only story, gas-to power in Sub-Saharan Africa is now being considered in a continent-wide context, both as a supplement to Africa's abundant hydropower resources and as a replacement for more carbon intensive coal and liquid fuels. But the concentration of gas resources in just a few countries and the virtual absence of gas transportation infrastructure create economic challenges to the wider adoption of gas as a power generation fuel, particularly in smaller countries that cannot achieve economies of scale in gas production and transportation. As a result, the timeline between the discovery of gas and its commercialization is often measured in decades. This study examines the economic conditions facing policy makers, planners, and commercial actors with a stake in gas-to-power development in Sub-Saharan Africa. It looks at the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the gas value chain to identify where the economics align in favor of gas-to-power development and where they do not.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Santley, David, Schlotterer, Robert, Eberhard, Anton
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2014-10
Subjects:	APPROACH, ASSOCIATED GAS, AVAILABILITY, BALANCE, BARREL, BURNING GAS, CARBON, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON EMISSIONS, CO2, CO2 EMISSIONS, COAL, COAL BED METHANE, COAL PLANTS, COAL PRICE, COAL PRODUCTION, COAL RESERVES, COAL RESOURCES, COAL-FIRED POWER, COMMERCIAL RESERVES, CONSTRUCTION, COST OF GAS, CRUDE OIL, CYCLE GENERATION, DIESEL, DIESEL FUEL, DIESEL GENERATORS, DISTRIBUTION INFRASTRUCTURE, DOMESTIC COAL, DOMESTIC ELECTRICITY DEMAND, DOMESTIC ENERGY, DOMESTIC GAS, DOMESTIC SUPPLY, DRILLING, ELECTRIC SUPPLY, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION, ELECTRICITY COSTS, ELECTRICITY DEMAND, ELECTRICITY SECTOR, ELECTRICITY SUPPLY, EMISSIONS, EMPLOYMENT, ENERGY CONSUMPTION, ENERGY DEMAND, ENERGY MARKET, ENERGY OUTLOOK, ENERGY PLANNERS, ENERGY POLICY, FIELD DEVELOPMENT PLAN, FISCAL REGIME, FISCAL TERMS, FUEL, FUEL COST, FUEL COSTS, FUEL PRICE, GAS ALLOCATION, GAS BUYERS, GAS COMMERCIALIZATION, GAS COSTS, GAS DEMAND, GAS DEVELOPMENT, GAS DISCOVERIES, GAS EXPORTS, GAS FIELD, GAS FIELDS, GAS GENERATION, GAS IN PLACE, GAS INDUSTRY, GAS INVESTMENT, GAS MARKET, GAS MARKETS, GAS PIPELINE, GAS PIPELINE SYSTEM, GAS PLANTS, GAS POLICY, GAS PRICE, GAS PRICES, GAS PRICING, GAS PRODUCER, GAS PRODUCERS, GAS PRODUCTION FACILITIES, GAS PROJECTS, GAS RESOURCE, GAS RESOURCES, GAS SALES, GAS SECTOR, GAS SUPPLY, GAS TRANSMISSION, GAS TRANSPORTATION, GAS TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE, GAS TURBINE, GAS USE, GAS UTILIZATION, GENERATION, GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, GEOTHERMAL POWER, GRID CONNECTION, HEAT, HEAT RATE, HEAVY FUEL OIL, HYDROELECTRIC OUTPUT, HYDROELECTRIC PLANT, HYDROPOWER, HYDROPOWER PROGRAM, INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITIES, INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS, INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY, INTERNATIONAL OIL COMPANIES, KILOWATT-HOUR, LIQUEFACTION, LIQUID FUELS, LNG, LNG PROJECT, LOAD FACTOR, MILLION CUBIC FEET PER DAY, MILLION TONS PER ANNUM, MINING OPERATIONS, NATURAL GAS, NATURAL GAS EXPLORATION, NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION, NATURAL GAS RESERVES, NATURAL GAS RESOURCES, OFFSHORE GAS, OIL, OIL AND GAS, OIL COMPANIES, OIL PRICES, OIL RESERVES, OIL SECTOR, PEAK PRODUCTION, PETROLEUM, PETROLEUM CONTRACTS, PETROLEUM CORPORATION, PETROLEUM INDUSTRY, PETROLEUM RESOURCE, PETROLEUM RESOURCES, PIPE, PIPELINE, PIPELINE INFRASTRUCTURE, PIPELINE PROJECT, PIPELINE PROJECTS, PIPELINE SYSTEM, PIPELINE TRANSPORTATION, PIPELINES, POWER, POWER DEMAND, POWER GENERATION, POWER GENERATION CAPACITY, POWER GENERATORS, POWER PLANTS, POWER PRODUCER, POWER PRODUCTION, POWER PROGRAM, POWER SECTOR, POWER SHORTAGES, POWER STATIONS, POWER SYSTEM, POWER SYSTEMS, PRICE ANALYSIS, PRICES FOR GAS, PRIVATE INVESTMENT, PRIVATE INVESTORS, PRIVATE SECTOR, PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION, PROBABLE RESERVES, PUBLIC UTILITIES, QUANTITY OF GAS, RECOVERABLE GAS, RENEWABLE ENERGY, RENEWABLE ENERGY GENERATION, RESERVOIR, ROYALTY, SELL GAS, SOLAR RESOURCES, SUPPLY OF ELECTRICITY, SUSTAINABLE ENERGY, TAX INCOME, TAX RATE, THERMAL EFFICIENCY, THERMAL ENERGY, THERMAL PLANTS, TRANSMISSION LINES, WELLHEAD PRICE, WHOLESALE PRICE, WHOLESALE PRICES, WIND, WORLD ENERGY, WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/01/19880807/harnessing-african-natural-gas-new-opportunity-africas-energy-agenda https://hdl.handle.net/10986/20685
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