
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.