Adapting energy storage to real project needs in Africa

by Peter Goneos, operations manager at X Flo Energy

Across Sub-Saharan Africa, new solar and wind installations are coming online in villages, towns and industrial corridors once reliant on diesel and long transmission lines.

But the way we think about energy storage in the context of specific projects still isn’t evolving fast enough.

Too often, lithium-ion batteries are treated as a one-size-fits-all solution. The global market has matured around them, and many procurement frameworks reflect that familiarity. Familiarity, though, shouldn’t be confused with fitness.

Part of the challenge here is momentum. Lithium-ion has benefited from decades of scale, supply chain investment, and policy alignment across regions where battery storage has been deployed in volume.

Those advantages are real, but they also create inertia.

Cover photo:  X Flow Energy.