Nearly two-thirds of the utility-scale solar and wind capacity planned in Africa is not intended for domestic consumption but rather export to Europe in the form of green hydrogen, hindering efforts to provide energy access for all across the continent, according to a new analysis from Global Energy Monitor (GEM).
The feasibility of these projects face strong headwinds, including a lack of financing, offtakers and unrealistic timelines, suggesting these projects will not be economically viable even if built.
Data in the Global Wind Power Tracker and Global Solar Power Tracker count roughly 350 gigawatts (GW) of prospective utility-scale wind and solar capacity across Africa — that is projects that have been announced, or are in the pre-construction and construction phases — roughly ten times what is currently in operation across the continent. By comparison, the entire world installed 380 GW of solar in the first half of 2025.
But 61% of Africa’s proposed renewables capacity — 216 GW across 35 projects in Botswana, Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, The Gambia, and Western Sahara — is planned for use as green hydrogen in energy and industrial applications primarily in Europe.
The companies that are promising to build this infrastructure, 65% of which are European entities, have never built on this scale before. Less than half of projects have construction timelines, and only one operational hydrogen-linked renewables project exists on the entire continent. Without confirmed offtakers or buyers, many schemes are speculative at best.
The unrealistic scale of these projects is most evident in Mauritania, with 79.5 GW of wind and solar projects have been announced, all of which are set to produce hydrogen. Mauritania only has 0.3 GW of wind and solar in operation, or less than 0.4% of what is proposed. Put another way, multinational developers are planning roughly three times the capacity of the largest energy project in the world, China’s Three Gorges Dam.
Mozambique and Djibouti have almost no renewable energy infrastructure —.1 and .06 GW respectively, or enough capacity to power roughly 50,000 European households— and yet there are plans to build 12 and 10 GW of green hydrogen infrastructure in each. If the 12 GW project in Mozambique was instead used to provide electricity, it would double the amount of power the country is currently generating. With its much smaller population, Djibouti could have equivalent per capita electricity consumption to Europe with just 3 GW of wind and solar.
Julie Macuga, researcher at Global Energy Monitor said, “NEuropean companies and governments backing green hydrogen on the continent need to be transparent about the gamble they are taking. Where hydrogen projects are proposed, people should have the autonomy to decide what types of energy and exports are best suited for them. Small, distributed wind and solar projects have proven effective in addressing energy access in Africa, with millions benefiting from these projects. Hydrogen remains largely hypothetical.”
Contact
Julie Macuga, Researcher, Global Energy Monitor
Email: [email protected]
Supplementary information on the Methodology used for this brief can be found on our Methodology wiki page.
