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AFRICAN REVIVAL ENERGY
The continent’s promise and future developments are tied to the solutions it picks with regards to its future energy mix, writes Saliem Fakir
THE SOLUTIONS Africa opts for have implications for the advancement of agriculture, industry, the use of digital technologies and growth in exports.
Energy access’s remit extends to issues on broader human development and strengthening democracy on the continent.
Energy provision that is accessible, cheaply attained by more and more households, nourishes individual autonomy and will expand the scope of human capability, not only in the domain of self-sufficient villages, towns, cities, and homes, but also the inclination to participate more actively in the political sphere. The less time people spend eking out a living the more they can spend addressing their political concerns.
WHAT EXACTLY IS AFRICA’S ENERGY SITUATION?
The picture is one of contradictions.
There are vast amounts of oil, gas, coal and uranium but very little of that is used to meet basic needs. Most of the primary energy sources are exported to Africa’s major trading partners, Europe and China. The energy poverty index for Africa is around 350-700kWh a year, which is well below the global average.
SALIEM FAKIR is executive director of the African Climate Foundation
Even where there is access to electricity it constitutes a high percentage of household costs, with poorer households less able to afford these costs. The average cost of electricity is around US $0.18 per kWh (about R2.70) compared to South Asia where it is around US $0.07kWh.
Then Africa faces a paradox – it has vast solar and wind resources and an underserved populace that suffers from a lack of energy access and poverty. Solar resource availability, remarkably, is fairly uniform across the continent. Sub-Saharan Africa has between 600 and 700 million people who do not have affordable, clean and reliable energy.
And where energy is provided, it is often from old and creaking infrastructure. With renewables, the need for long wires and centrally planned energy systems is for a bygone era. The rate at which technologies are progressing, and costs coming down globally, has the potential for Africa to leapfrog the electricity provision model and how it participates in the clean energy revolution knows no bounds.
The main sources of electrical and nonelectrical energy at the moment are oilbased fuels, gas, coal, wood and charcoal. Of the renewable sources, hydro power dominates, followed by geothermal, smallscale wind and solar. South Africa’s power is largely coal-based but this will decline as more and more renewables come online. South Africa’s potential for renewables –both solar and wind – is significant and can be expanded beyond the government’s plan for 19 000MW to 30 000MW.
This is not to mention the vast potential for rooftop solar photovoltaic panels – currently untapped – if the right policy and regulatory enabling conditions are put in place. A study by the International Renewable Energy Agency notes that, by 2030 ,Africa can increase its renewable capacity by fivefold compared to 2013 figures, and these can be from four sources: hydro power, solar, wind and biomass. To achieve this, Africa needs $70 billion a year of investments in generation technologies and grid infrastructure.
The overall electrification rate in Africa is around 45%, of which 72% is in urban areas and 28% in rural areas (according to the African Energy Commission) – the potential is large. Renewables are much cheaper than fossil fuels and have the added advantage of being able to be deployed rapidly.
The key is enabling government policy and cheap sources of finance to scale renewables. Africa is caught in an energy poverty trap and renewables offer a way to for us to escape this poverty trap.
