Exploring Renewable Energy Africa

African continent comprises of 54 countries and houses approximately 15 percent of the world population. However, it contributes only 4 % of the global green house gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, it will be great if these countries could mostly bypass the use of fossil fuels and develop capacity to meet most of their existing and emerging needs using green Energy in Africa.

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Lets look at each of the three countries and understand the questions “why renewable energy” in the African continent.

First, the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEPCO), the country’s major power company) announced that it plans to diversify its energy production by adding six wind power projects and one geothermal project (a total capacity of one gigawatt [1 GW]).

Currently, EEPCO produces a total of 2000 megawatts (MW) using traditional and alterative energy sources (including hydroelectric). The goal is increase this energy production to 10,000 MW by 2015 (five fold increase) to fit into the government’s goals for economic developments.

Solar Energy| Wind Energy| Biomass Energy

So, why explore wind energy Africa in Ethiopia? EEPCO considers wind power as a nice complement to its hydropower as the weather conditions in Ethiopia mitigate that high wind energy can be tapped in dry season when the water resources are low. The wind energy in this nation could add up to 10,000 MW in the near future.

So, how does Ethiopia compare to other renewable energy Africa Nations? It benefits from being in three climate zones (so has potential for wind energy and geothermal energy). Lets talk about geothermal energy in Ethiopia? Similar to Kenya, Ethiopia can tap into the East African Rift Zone that makes it a good site for tapping geothermal energy.

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Neighboring Kenya has been more active in using geothermal energy and plans to generate almost 30% of its energy needs from geothermal energy sources by year 2030. Kenya is the largest economy in East Africa with almost 35 million people. The country’s energy demands has peaked to 1200 MW and will increase up to 15,000 MW by 2030.

Therefore, renewable energy Africa is definitely emerging and provide an exciting opportunity for investments and education.

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