Technical issues: area control considerations in the WAPP and SAPP areas

With a population of 13.4% of the world but only consumes 3 % of world energy, Africa is desperately needed cheap and clean energy for economic development and modernization. The Survey of Energy Resources conducted by the World Energy Council (WEC) in 2004 shows that Africa has more than enough to satisfy all its energy requirements. However, the resources are not evenly distributed within the continent. It is important to have cross-border interconnection of electricity grids and gas pipelines networks and the joint development of new electrical generation projects to make the energy accessible to the general public. However, interconnecting AC network will increase the complexity of the system that may increase the system reliability, security, and stability problems due to the interactions of equipment and control actions. This paper uses the development of West Africa power pool (WAPP) and Southern Africa power pool (SAPP) to discuss area control considerations in this cross countries interconnection utility grid.