Africa is endowed with enormous wind resources! Research commissioned for the IFC in 2020 found that the continent’s wind resources could supply its electricity demand 250 times over. Ironically, about half of Africa’s population, amounting to 600 million people, have no access to electricity. Wind energy is emerging as the lowest-cost technology for meeting Africa’s growing population while also complying with its Net Zero goals for combating climate change.
The Great Green Wall (GGW) Initiative proposes an 8,000-kilometer wall of trees across the entire width of Africa. Led by the African Union, this initiative was conceived to combat desertification and hold back expansion of the Sahara by planting a wall of trees stretching across the entire Sahel. The Sahel population of 135 million today is projected to reach 330 million by 2050 requiring electricity.
Fortunately, beneath the Sahel there lies a massive underground aquifer and wind-generated electric power could be used to pump groundwater for irrigating millions of trees destined for the GGW while also giving local communities access to water resources for drinking, agriculture, and livestock.
Pumped storage hydroelectricity is a mature technology and proven means of storing renewable energy. When the wind blows, water is pumped from a lower elevation reservoir into a higher elevation reservoir and when there is low or no wind, the water is released for driving a turbine producing electric power.
Catalina BioTech is developing proprietary methods and technology for wind-powered pumped storage of electricity from underground aquifers as an effective means for producing consistent renewable energy and irrigation water for agriculture. Using aquifers as the lower reservoir is a novel concept and pilot projects are being planned for proving the efficacy and economics of the technology which will serve as a showcase for scaling throughout the Sahel and the continent of Africa.
