Huge renewable energy resources: Africa’s renewable energy resources are as diverse as they are evenly distributed and enormous in quantity:

• Geothermal resources in the Red Sea Valley, the Rift Valley and between Nigeria’s Atlantic southeast coast and Cameroon’s Atlantic southwest coast remain largely untapped.
• Although Hydroelectricity is the biggest source of electricity in a number of countries in Africa, its potential remains largely underutilized. Again, donors’ preference for large dams prevents the adoption of a new approach to hydroelectricity generation that involves the use of cost effective, easy to erect and ecological friendly micro hydro power plants. Some of the largest water courses in the world are found in Africa’s regions, therefore several decentralized mini and micro hydro power plants on the Nile, Niger, Senegal, Congo, Orange, Limpopo, Volta and Zambezi rivers can generate enough electricity to meet all of Africa’s energy needs.
• Energy from Wind and Ocean current¹: Africa is surrounded by Indian Ocean on the east coast and Atlantic Ocean on the west coast with huge ocean wind and current which, if harnessed for electricity, are sufficient to cover all the electricity needs of Africa.
  For example, ocean-current-turbines inside the ocean along the 2000 kilometers long coastline from Morocco to Senegal could potentially generate all of Africa's enegy needs. While wind turbine spacing of only 2.4 MW/km² on parts of the 2000 kilometers long coastline from Morocco to Senegal could potentially generate a production of more than 1000 TWh per year. This would be sufficient to cover the entire electricity needs of Africa or close to half of the entire electricity needs of the European Union estimated at (2300 TWh). Ocean current power plant generates electricity from horizontally flowing Ocean current. The fast the current the more electricity can be generated. While hydro power plant generate electricity using vertically falling water
• Solar resource is by far the single most abundant energy resource Africa has and if harnessed could meet all the electricity needs of Africa. Solar energy, falling freely from Africa’s skies to reach everywhere on the continent without transmission lines can be utilized to provide off-grid electricity to remote communities far from national grids, as well as utility scale electricity for industries.

Excursion:

¹Ocean current power plant is not hydroelectric power plant:

The only similarity between ocean current power plant and hydroelectricity power plants is that both use turbines in order to transform part of their water’s dynamic energy to rotational energy and through their geared electric generators to produce electric energy. Beyond this, both are operationally different: - Ocean current power plant uses dynamic energy of horizontally flowing ocean (water) current, while hydroelectric power plants uses the dynamic energy of falling water due its gravity. The efficiency of an ocean power plant is proportional to the speed of the water current moving in a horizontal direction, while the efficiency of  hydroelectric power plant is proportional to the dam height (height of the water fall).

v  Salient Point

Africa is endowed with huge fossil and renewable energy resources, that electricity should be readily available to every household and industry on the continent. Unfortunately this is not the case

Power blackout is a regular scene in cities, towns and villages across Africa with attendant negative impact on the quality of living and business productivity. Power plants and transmission lines across Africa, most of which were erected in the 1950s and 1960s operate today at just a fraction of installed capacity due to insufficient maintenance and lack of modernization.

Countries with gas/diesel/coal fired power plants often find themselves with no electricity whenever there is disruption in supply of these fossil fuels due to either high cost or production disruption. Nigeria for example, has a number of newly built gas fired power plants which are not producing electricity yet because Nigeria, an exporter of gas and crude, is yet to supply gas or diesel to these plants. In Algeria, gas pipeline network from Algeria to Europe guarantees natural gas supply to Europe, while urban population and rural residents alike suffer scarcity of cooking gas because domestic distribution is not developed.

When drought strikes countries which depend on hydro electricity, resort to rationing of power supply. These scenarios underscore the need for a new approach to electricity generation in which a mix of several energy sources including renewable sources.

Across the continent, wars and militancy have left power generation and distribution infrastructure disrupted, damaged or destroyed. For example, Sierra Leone's Bumbuna hydroelectric project was nearly complete when civil war disrupted construction. Most of Liberia's energy power plants and transmission lines were so damaged or destroyed during its long civil war that the national electricity company estimates it will cost more than $107 million and take several years to achieve restoration to the level they were before the war. The situation is similar in Angola and Mozambique.

Salient Point:

Ø  Insufficient maintenance and lack of modernization plague Africa’s electricity infrastructure.

The examples of Algeria’s and Nigeria’s well developed pipeline network which guarantees uninterrupted oil and gas supply to Europe, while their citizens suffer scarcity of cooking gas due to lack of domestic distribution infrastructure, show that development of domestic energy infrastructure is not a priority for African governments, Misplaced priority instead of lack of fund has been identified as reason for bad shape of Africa’s electricity infrastructure.

Ø  Electricity from other energy sources in addition to hydro energy would ensure reliability of supply.

The article “The electrification of Africa: -which way forward” offers some insight to how electrification of the continent could be achieved.

The UN conference on climate change held in Kyoto, Japan in 1997, saw countries from around the world, including African countries, reach an agreement on the "Kyoto protocol" to reduce green house gases. Part of the Kyoto protocol was the agreement by the industrialized countries to adopt the so called "flexible approach towards reduction of green house gases". This include what was termed „Joint implementation“: - with this the industrialized countries would be seen as fulfilling national obligation on reduction of green gas emission if and when they help other countries to reduce their own emission. Another approach agreed upon towards green house gas reduction by the industrialized world was the „Clean development Mechanism“(CDM). CDM allows companies in the industrialized countries to fulfill their individual obligation on reducing green house gas emission through participation in projects geared towards reduction of green house gas emission in the developing countries. One sure way of reducing the green house gases is by sourcing electricity from the green-house-gases-free energy from the sun and other renewable energies, as well as ensuring that more people have access to renewable energy rather than only the privileged.

Africa’s obvious great solar power potential is of little value if locals derive no benefit from it or if due to limited financial resources only few locals derive benefit from it. Cooperation between the African Union and the European Union (AU-EU) on harnessing solar power to meet energy needs of Africa and Europe would be a good opportunity to cut green house gases drastically in line with UN Kyoto declarations. Political declarations, such as Kyoto protocol mean little if they are not honestly put into practice. Therefore AU-EU-Renewable Energy Cooperation is a perfect opportunity for European countries signatory to Kyoto protocol, to demonstrate their commitment to the “Joint implementation“ and „Clean development Mechanism“ agreement of the Kyoto protocol. Instead, Trans Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) was founded in 2003 by the club of Rome for cooperation among countries of Mediterranean region in the production of electricity and desalinated water using CSP and wind turbines in the Middle East and North African desserts (MENA deserts). Although AU-EU-wide cooperation on renewable energy production and utilization would have greater impact on the reduction of green house gases than restricting cooperation to Mediterranean countries, the establishment of TREC was nonetheless welcomed because small scale cooperation is better than no cooperation. The establishment of TREC was particularly welcomed, since the Mediterranean region includes countries from North Africa, South Europe and the Middle East, therefore TREC was seen as microcosm of a future larger AU-EU cooperation on renewable energy. This explains why the recent formation of “EU-Mediterranean Union”, which is basically the inclusion of all non-Mediterranean European countries to TREC without extending same to non-Mediterranean African countries, raises genuine questions among TREC observers and participants alike, who cares about Africa, why TREC would embrace the whole Europe and exclude Africa except north African from a project on the African desert. What other better way to put the Kyoto "flexible aproach to green house reduction" and "Clean Development Mechanism" into ptactice, if not through honest AU-EU cooperation on harnessing clean solar energy in the Sahara for both Africa and Europe.

There would not be any need for a debate on whether a cooperation on the level of EU-Mediterranean Union (i.e. all Europe and North Africa) or the EU-AU (i.e all Europe and all Africa) is best suitable for the quest for green house reduction, if TREC's clean solar energy project were to be executed on the European side of the Mediterranean. However as long as the project is on the African desert, Africa should at least be interested in knowing what is going on on its backyard, if the rationale of excluding the rest of Africa is not enough reason for Africa to wake fup from the slumber, and should be more so, especially now that non-Mediterranean-European countries are part of the Sahara desertec project! 

Whatever the reason for this decision, the bottom line remains: - Africa must help itself!. Africa has what it takes to be energy super power (the only continent on the planet with three deserts!). It only needs to use its deserts or at least use the Sahara alongside the European to harness free, clean sweet energy from the sun. Will Africa ever meet its energy needs?: - as long as Africa does not wait untill there are "bread crumbs, (known also as donor Aid) falling off donors table" before it puts its "solar resource" into use, then Desertec-Africa's answer is emphatic yes. Our optimism is rooted in our enthusiasm for Concentrated Solar Power-technology (CSP) as the technology that could enable Africa produce energy sustainably. That is why Desertec-Africa is working hard to bring African countries to start harnessing the enormous amount of solar energy falling on as sunlight on African deserts and Sahel regions, using CSP power plants.

Electricity supply to homes and industries across the continent to a large extent comes from the grid or generators. Extension of the grid to remote or sparsely populated communities is not a feasible option either due to low economic development and electricity demand or even for political reasons. Insufficient electricity production means supply to the Industries from the grid is often rationalized, resulting to low industrial productivity, low employment opportunities and increased emigration of Africa’s workforce to Europe and other places.

Therefore new approach to electrification of Africa is required and should include firstly decentralized solutions. Renewable energy sources are often best option to provide electricity to remote communities that are not connected to the grid. The following decentralized solutions could be ideal for rural electrification: a). Electricity for rural households can be based on decentralized, off-grid electrification involving installation of standalone systems such as Photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine, micro-hydro power, and biomass. b) Mini and micro grids fed by renewable energy sources or renewable-fossil-mixed plants for higher electricity demand for lighting, refrigeration, education, communication and health services. In general, a balance mix of renewable energy sources such as CSP with fossil fuel backup can provide affordable power capacity on demand for homes and industries across the continent.

Secondly, there is a need to explore other sources of investment capital than public fund for the development of electricity-infrastructure. According to an estimate by World Bank’s clean energy and Development, developing countries, of which Africa is included, would need between 2003 and 2030 a total investment of $ 8.1 trillion, equivalent to an average of $300 billion per year, to meet their energy needs, of which electricity need constitutes about 73%. Going by the current level of investment in the electricity sector, just 50 % of the needs are financially covered, that is about $80 billion per year out of $160 billion per year. How can this investment gap be closed? It is obvious that this huge capital need cannot be covered by only public fund (which includes funds from government, bilateral and multilateral donor sources). Private source of investment capital is urgently needed to close the huge investment gap in the electricity-infrastructure development in Africa. However, Private investment capital, both foreign and domestic can be attracted to electricity infrastructure development if and when “market for electricity infrastructure” exists and policy framework in place: Policy makers/government/politician must act first.

Salient Points: Africa requires new approach to electrification!

Ø  Decentralized, off-grid electrification based on standalone systems to provide electricity to remote rural households not covered by grid.

Ø  A mix of renewable energy sources such as CSP etc with fossil fuel backup can provide affordable power capacity on demand to homes and industries.

Ø  In addition to public fund, private investment capital is needed for electricity infrastructure development.

Ø  Private Investment capital however, can be attracted if and when “market for electricity infrastructure” exists and policy framework in place: This means, policy makers (Governments/politicians) must act first.

To arrest further deterioration of already dire state of energy generation and supply in Africa the following steps should be taken without delay:

Africa should declare energy as critical to its development and take logical steps to address the situation:

Actionable state of emergency in the energy sector implies the acknowledgment of the situation as dire and taking concrete measures or steps to address it. The steps include: to identify energy resources there are and provide a frame work to harness them.

Africa should wean itself off Aid money, and invest its own money in energy project.  Setting aside significant percentage of GDP, instead of the current reliance on aid money to fund electricity generation and supply projects is the best indication that Africa is ready to take its fate into its hands. Many countries in Africa have “outsourced” development of many sectors of their economy including the energy sector to donor countries and aid agencies. Identifying electricity as critical to country’s development means assigning substantial percentage of GDP for electricity generation. Countries and regions will use the money that has been set aside to initiate and if possible finish projects for electricity generation on their own dictate and time plan. Execution begin of Projects funded by donor’s money usually lags. This is due to the time required by donor agencies for project assessment prior to approval. While bilateral and multilateral sources of funding can be sought, countries should neither rely solely on donor money for electricity project. A clear case of addition to Aid-money is the example of Nigeria, a country reported to have designated 17bilion dollars for energy infrastructure development, while at the same time was prepared to wait for 330 million dollar Aid-money for West African transmission line. Instead of wait until the donors hand over a cheque for the project, a more responsible solution would be, Nigeria to foot the $300 million bill in behalf of West Africa, to enable construction to commence immediately, and then to be reimbursed later by the West Africa community.

Take concrete step to utilize its desert and solar resources for renewable energy generation.  Africa’s desert and its surroundings have been identified by European neighbor as sources for its energy security and has put plan in place to harness clean, cheap energy from Africa’s Sahara for transmission to Europe. Therefore, not only should Africa utilize its Sahara, Namib and Kalahari deserts resources, but also identify the most suitable form of CSP technology for further development.  The general consensus among observers of Africa’s development and stakeholders alike is that electricity is critical to the continent’s development, therefore for any bilateral or multilateral partnership for Africa’s development to be worth going into sustainable energy for the entire continent has to be on the table. Therefore Africa should see to it that the cooperating countries for desertec project which currently include the whole Europe, is expanded to include the whole of Africa and not just North Africa. 

Regional and Interregional cooperation on renewable energy development and transmission: This would include cooperation on research and training, Interconnection of Africa’s regions and creation of a single market  for electricity. Some modest upgrading of exiting grid for HVDC transmission of electricity from region of generation to area of consumption would be necessary.

Utilize a well balanced mix of fossil fuels and renewable energy sources: Sustainable power in Africa can be based to a great extent on utility-scale renewable energy generation from the sun, as well as energies from wind and mini and micro hydropower plants (instead of giant water dams). A well balanced mix of renewable energy sources with fossil fuel backup can provide affordable power capacity on demand throughout Africa. Stand alone energy generation and utilization in remote areas should be integral part of the mix.

Take steps to ensure Energy efficiency: Introduction of measures for efficient in the chain of supply, distribution and use of energy. 

Salient Points:

Actions Africa must take, to arrest further deterioration of energy situation across the continent

Ø  Africa should declare energy as critical to its development,

Ø  take logical step and declare ‘actionable state of emergency in the energy sector’: - which means making funds available immediately to address the dire state of the energy sector by setting aside significant percentage of their GDP, instead of the current reliance on aid money, to finance electricity generation and supply projects.

Ø  Africa should take concrete step to utilize its desert and solar resources for renewable energy generation.

Ø  Efforts towards sustainable energy on the continent should focus on regional and interregional cooperation on renewable energy development and transmission.

Ø  Introduce energy efficiency measures: Introduction of measures for efficient supply, distribution and use of energy. 

Ø  Use a well balanced mix of fossil fuels and renewable for sustainable electricity generation and supply.

Ø  Provide a reliable policy framework to market for renewable energy generation and supply: Provide a reliable framework for the market introduction of existing renewable energy technologies,

Ø  Create a visible market for renewable energy