In an exclusive interview, Chris Antonopoulos, CEO of Lekela, talks to African Review about green policies, milestones reached in 2020 and continued deal-making in the renewables sector
African Review: In the wake of the pandemic and the economic implications for countries worldwide, how important do you think it is now for governments to implement green policies as a means to avoid carbon-intensive spending and establish sustainable energy systems as a precondition to a stable long-term recovery?
Chris Antonopoulos: Ensuring there is investment in green technology is more important than ever, and everyone has a role to play, including governments, banks, financiers, and Development Finance Institutions. They must ensure that policies are in place that enable and encourage the development of renewables across the whole world, so we don’t miss this opportunity to ensure that we increase momentum behind the uptake of clean energy.
AR: With the declining costs of renewable technologies as well, would you agree that they are positioned more than ever to become a driver in the economic recovery for many nations around the world, especially in Africa?
CA: We’re continuing to see a considerable amount of deal-making in the renewable sector, which has held up remarkably well during Covid-19. Many countries in Africa have abundant natural resources that are ripe for solar and wind power, yet the continent continues to miss out. We want to see the money being invested in renewables around the rest of the world flow to Africa, because we’ve seen first-hand how renewable projects can help to create jobs, improve enterprise and, of course, increase the capacity of the grid.
AR: How has Lekela navigated its way through the Covid-19 pandemic this year?
CA: Like every business, dealing with Covid-19 has been a huge challenge this year. However, our priority has always been the health and safety of our employees, workers and communities, while ensuring the provision of power from our operational projects. The situation in each country we operate in is different, and we’ve been guided by the restrictions and advice in each location. We’re pleased to say that we have been able to keep construction going and have a series of exciting milestones currently taking place at our projects in South Africa, Senegal and Egypt.
We’ve also pivoted our community support programme, usually focused on education, enterprise and environmental needs, to help support local communities in their fight against Covid-19. This includes a range of activity, from distributing pamphlets and organising a public information radio campaign, as we did for our Perdekraal East and Kangnas projects in South Africa, to setting up sanitation posts in the areas around our Parc Éolien Taiba N’Diaye (PETN) wind farm in Senegal.
AR: How well-positioned is the utility firm to take advantage of future business opportunities in light of the Coronavirus crisis?
CA: The crisis has had a huge effect on almost every industry in every country. However, for Lekela, our approach continues to remain the same. We have always had a long-term approach, looking to turn long-held visions for energy generation into viable, sustainable realities – and Covid-19 has not changed that. Of course, we hope that the increased conversations around a green recovery will in turn lead to more renewable projects in Africa, for the benefit of both the countries where they’re located, and the wider industry.
AR: What’s your vision for the company moving forwards?
CA: Our vision is simple, to deliver long-term and sustainable benefits for African countries and communities through clean, reliable power. By investing in wind projects, we can make a positive impact not just through the provision of power and the creation of employment opportunities, but also through our community investment programmes. Our projects last for over 20 years, making us long-term residents, and our community plans are carried out throughout the lifecycle of the projects. For example, with our PETN wind farm in Senegal, set to be complete later this year, we have already built an IT centre for the local school and two marketplaces for community members to sell their produce.
We also want to continue to help countries in Africa meet their ambitious renewable energy goals. Our West Bakr Wind farm in Egypt will increase Egypt's wind energy capacity by 18%, which will be a crucial part of meeting the government’s renewable energy generation target of 20% by 2022.
AR: Do you see wind projects such as the massively successful Taiba N'Diaye wind farm in Senegal being replicated elsewhere on the continent?
CA: There is huge potential for projects like our PETN wind farm in Senegal to be replicated across the continent. The project is the first utility scale wind farm in both Senegal and West Africa, and a leading example of what can be done by a government showing strong ambitions in this area.
Other governments should look to copy successful projects like PETN with pride. A huge amount of expertise and effort goes into major renewables projects, and there’s no reason that tried and tested technology can’t be used as a blueprint by other governments looking to promote clean energy.
AR: Are there any wind or solar projects in the pipeline next year or beyond, Lekela is working on?
CA: It’s been an incredibly busy year and the final few months will be no different for Lekela. With big milestones still set to take place for our West Bakr wind farm in Egypt, PETN in Senegal, and Kangnas wind farm in South Africa, our focus lies on ensuring everything proceeds as it should. However, we always have opportunities on our radar and hope that as our projects move into operations, we can add others to our development pipeline.
AR: What has been Lekela’s stand-out success so far as a business?
CA: I’m incredibly proud of everything Lekela has achieved in the past five years to become one of the leading providers of renewable energy in Africa, so it’s difficult to pick just one moment. However, a moment that stands out for me is when construction began on our West Bakr Wind farm last year, which pushed us into having over 1,000MW of clean energy in construction and operation. It was of course a huge milestone for the team in Egypt, but that figure also served as reminder of how far we’d come as a business in less than five years.
AR: Is there anything else you would like to add or update our readers about Lekela's developments?
CA: In September, we announced we had secured a grant from the US Trade and Development Agency to explore battery storage at our PETN wind farm in Senegal. This is a really exciting development as this large-scale storage will help us to maximise the impact of renewables in Senegal, and push Senegal to the forefront of renewable energy usage in modern day grids. The project will be the first grid-scale battery electric storage system in Senegal, and will build on the progress made through our 160MW wind farm, which is also the first of its kind in the country.
Our 140MW Kangnas wind farm in South Africa is also set to come online before the end of the year, and will mean that Lekela reaches the exciting milestone of five projects in operation in South Africa.
By Samantha Payne
