With a Little Help, Africa Could Become Renewable Energy Powerhouse

The United States, China, India, Japan, and Europe all fit within Africa, a continent that lags behind those places in development.  When it comes to energy and electricity, this lack of infrastructure or institutionalized energy systems offers some opportunities for renewable sources of energy to enter into a market that is struggling to meet demand.

The International Renewable Energy Agency recently said that Africa’s renewable energy capacity is expected to quadruple to about 120 gigawatts by 2030 if “investors dedicate substantial flows of funds to the region,” according to Bloomberg Businessweek.

The vast and varied landscape of Africa includes some of the best solar and wind resources in the world.  On top of that, a World Bank report released this week found that Sub-Saharan Africa could provide more than 170 gigawatts of additional power-generation capacity — more than double the region’s current installations — through 3,200 “low-carbon” energy projects, such as combined heat-and-power, biofuels production, mass transportation, and energy efficiency.  The report found that these projects could avoid some 740 million tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent reductions each year.

“The energy deficit in Sub-Saharan Africa is enormous,” Dana Rysankova, senior energy specialist in the World Bank’s Africa Region, said in a statement.  “The total generation capacity of the whole Sub-Saharan Africa is lower than that of Spain.  500 million people still lack access to electricity.  It is estimated that the African countries will need to spend at least six percent of their GDP on energy over the next 10 years to keep up with their economic growth.”

With a Little Help, Africa Could Become Renewable Energy Powerhouse