Great potential for renewables

Hervé Lorieux, SBU Power’s Sales Manager in Africa, provides an insight into his work.

MAN People: Hervé Lorieux, what sort of projects are you responsible for?

Hervé Lorieux: Mainly power plant projects for utilities and independent energy producers, both areas where I’m seeing a strong trend towards hybrid systems, especially in the mining industry.

Which countries do you look after?

I’m responsible for 11 countries: ­Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Djibouti, the ­Comoros, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Togo and Tunisia.

What makes Africa so important as a market?

Africa has huge development potential that will need to be satisfied in the years ahead. The population is exploding. It’s estimated that there will be 2.5 billion people living on the African continent by 2050. That’s a quarter of the world’s population. In Sub-Saharan Africa in particular, electrification is proceeding at a very slow rate, which opens up good opportunities for additional electricity generation. There are also large reserves of natural raw materials such as oil, gas, minerals, precious metals and, above all, sunlight, and virtually every country is investing in renewable energies.

Is it really correct to talk about an African market at all, or do we need to differentiate more?

Although Africa as a whole offers a wide range of opportunities, every country is different of course. Some states are still concentrating on fossil fuels, while others are making greater use of natural sources of energy like water, sunlight or wind power. Morocco has already made great progress in terms of energy supply, for example. Of 8,200 MW of installed capacity, almost 4,000 MW comes from renewable sources. So no country is comparable with another, which is what’s so challenging about this market. It’s quite understandable, though, that each country pursues its own agenda when it comes to energy generation.

How do you assess MAN Energy ­Solutions’ position in Africa?

We’re an important partner on the African market and have a wealth of testimonials to refer to. We currently have more than 400 engines in the field.

Where do you see the greatest potential for MAN Energy Solutions?

For me, the greatest potential lies in solutions for reducing carbon footprint, such as gas to power, renewable energies and Power-to-X.