James Ogunleye
5 October 2008
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Lagos — James Ogunleye writes on the renewable energy issue which has now become a household name in Africa, with each country trying to find an alternative to the use of fossil fuel in generating electricity, transportation, and to meet other increasing demand of energy needs
Modern energy consumption in Africa has been very low despite the huge fossil fuel resource in some Africa countries; the continent still relies heavily on the traditional use of biomass. It is notable that the per capita consumption of modern energy in sub-Saharan Africa with the highest reserve of fossil fuel is very small compared to other parts of Africa.
It is also of high interest to note that West Africa, though with the lowest energy consumption has the highest population in Africa and abundant fossil-based and renewable energy resources. This imbalance in the proportion of energy consumed and the population of the region is the greatest challenge faced in West Africa. This has been the harbinger for the recent exploitation of renewable energy resources.
Africa is endowed with an abundant and wide range of energy resources-both renewable and non-renewable. The region's renewable energy potential includes biomass, solar, and wind resources. The region has over 1.1 million GWh of exploitable hydro capacity, and over 9,000 MW of geothermal potential; this in addition to its considerable petroleum, natural gas and coal reserves. The region's huge hydro potential in the region is not yet the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is noted to be equivalent to more than five times the installed capacity in the USA.
Many West African countries particularly Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal, are at the forefront of implementing policies that will enhance rapid utilisation of renewable energy resources in meeting energy needs. These West African countries have succeeded in increasing the list of investors for RETs through the various conferences organised in the region. Some of these conferences include: "Making Renewable Energy Markets for Africa," Senegal (March 16-18, 2008), "Lighting Africa 2008", Ghana (May 6-8, 2008) and also the expected "Exploiting Renewable Energy Opportunities in Africa," Nigeria, which begins tomorrow, October 7 and end on the 9th.
In Nigeria, part of the private sector efforts towards embracing policies towards actualising large scale renewable energy projects. CREN, which is just two years old, is becoming popular among renewable energy industry stakeholders and is aiming to achieve its vision of nationwide acceptance within the shortest possible time.
The renewable energy industry in West Africa largely is comprised of private sector interest with support from the government through the Energy Commission providing the policy and the necessary research and development of renewable energy technologies. The Commission has also been involved in organising workshops and presentation of seminars on various renewable energy technologies with emphasis on adaptable technologies such as solar electricity, small hydro systems, and most recently, biofuels.
In response to the government's interest in biofuels, many private companies have started promoting and cultivating Jathropha as feedstock for biodiesel. The target in Nigeria is to be self sufficient in biofuels and also to make it available for export. This will in return lead to employment creation for thousands of people thus reducing the poverty level in the country.
In Ghana, the government, through donor assistance has integrated solar PV for lighting under its rural electrification program. The country today has installed over 5,000 solar power systems in remote communities which include rural and urban homes, schools, health centres, water pumps, telecommunications, and street lights amongst.
Another initiative in Ghana is the improved biomass stoves popularly known as "Gyapa" now in use by most homes displacing the inefficient consumption of biomass. The improved stove burns biomass efficiently and has so far encouraged sustainable use of charcoal for cooking rather than the usual practice of cutting down trees leading to deforestation.
Another good initiative and use of biomass is the waste conversion process in Nigeria. There are different technologies developed to convert waste:
ß A landfill gas project is promoted by Lagos State with support from the World Bank. This project is aimed to utilise collected waste at three dumpsites for generation of electricity. A private company in Lagos State had earlier established a waste-to-fertilizer plant in the state.
ß Another brilliant scheme is that of the Joseph Adelegan of Global Network for Environment and Economic Development, who designed a fixed film anaerobic bioreactor, which bio-digests slaughterhouse waste-liquid and solid-and converts it into biogas which is compressed as domestic cooking gas, a potent greenhouse gas contributing to climate change and global warming.
ß Audu Guba also developed a wood/agricultural waste briquetting machine recently. The briquettes can also in turn be used as feedstock in combined heat and power (CHP) plants.
There are many other initiatives that have been developed throughout West African countries on a small and large scale. However, solar electricity is the most famous and most exploited renewable energy resource in the West African region. This is due to the abundance of the resource in the region with average of five hours sunshine. Another good reason for its rapid deployment in West Africa is the ease in installation of the solar power systems (SPS) compared to other RE technologies. West African countries are presently committing huge finances into massive deployment of solar installations which includes solar home systems, solar pumping systems, and solar street lights in rural communities.
Despite these huge resources and implementation of RE technologies, electricity supply to homes in West Africa is yet to attain 40 per cent. Apart from the various factors affecting adequate generation and supply of electricity in the region, many homes in remote areas are difficult to connect to the national grid considering the distance to be covered, topography, culture, and other salient factors.
A very high percentage of the West African population live in the rural and remote areas which underscores the need to double up the present rate of deployment of renewable energy resources in the region. West African countries, according to experts must continue to take advantage of renewable energies, especially solar energy, which is an abundant resource and efficient for rural electrification and designing Solar Home Systems.
With the high rural population in West Africa, installing Solar Home Systems in rural areas, peri-urban area, and other applicable locations will reduce load shedding and also enable power utility service providers to distribute grid electricity to the industries, thus rejuvenating the manufacturing sector as well as the economy. Application of renewable energy technologies has a major role to play in the development of the region, especially in achieving the millennium development goals.
For renewable energy to get rooted in the countries of West Africa there is a lot more to do be done in the move for renewable energy policy adoption with legislative backing at national, regional and sub-regional levels. Renewable energy resources such as small hydro and biofuels should be given the necessary attention due to their ability to produce a substantial amount of electricity; enough to meet the needs of not only rural areas, but also peri-urban and urban areas.
Electricity from renewable sources should be supplied in the form of distributed generation rather than on a large scale which is fed into national grids or the West African grid. To avoid losses due to transmission problems and the cost of setting up large-scale renewable electricity projects for power generation should be set up on a smaller scale, supplying a few communities each.
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