AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE APPLICABILITY OF SUPER GRIDS IN A SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN CONTEXT

Abstract

There is a need in energy-poor sub-Saharan Africa for a system to manage energy more efficiently and effectively both within and between countries. An approach that has been proven in other parts of the world to facilitate this is super grids. With their interconnection and information management systems, super grids can contribute to the increasingly effective and efficient management of energy, and they have the potential to increase sustainability. The applicability of such super grids in the sub-Saharan African context is still uncertain and is scientifically under-explored; thus there is a need to establish their applicability in a sub-Saharan African context. In this article, the literature on super grids is analysed and contextualised from a bibliometric and content analysis perspective, in order to draw parallels between such super grids and the sub-Saharan African context, and thus to investigate their applicability in that context.