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Renewables for Energy Access and Sustainable Development in East Africa

Authors: Prof. Manfred Hafner, Prof. Dr. Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Dr. Giovanni Occhiali

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

Book Series : SpringerBriefs in Energy

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Table of Contents

About this book

This short open access book investigates the role of renewable energy in East Africa to provide policy-relevant inputs for the achievement of a cost-effective electrification process in the region. For each country, the authors review the current situation in the domestic power sector, adopt a GIS-based approach to plot renewable energy resources potential, and review currently planned projects and projects under development, as well as the key domestic renewables regulations. Based on such information, least-cost 100% electrification scenarios by 2030 are then modelled and comparative results over the required capacity additions and investment are reported and discussed. The authors also inquire into some of the key technological, economic, policy, cooperation, and financing challenges to the development of a portfolio of renewables to promote energy access in a sustainable way, including a discussion of the challenges and opportunities that might stem from the interaction between local RE potential and natural gas resources currently under development in the region. To conclude, policy recommendations based on the book’s results and targeted at international cooperation and development institutions, local policymakers, and private stakeholders in the region are elaborated.

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Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Open Access

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

East Africa (EA) is a weakly-defined macro-region, with its extent varying from a geographical, cultural, and political perspective depending on the context inquired. This book makes the explicit choice of referring to EA as the area including Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda (Fig. 1.1). Furthermore, despite not strictly belonging to the region, South Africa is also accounted for in the analysis. This is due to the strong ties and interdependencies in the energy and economic sectors that South Africa exhibits with EA-7 countries, and to the lessons that can be learned from its emblematic case—an outlier in terms of energy and economic development.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 2. East Africa: Regional Energy Outlook

Abstract

EA-8 hosts 3.6% of world’s population but only accounts for 1.5% of total global primary energy consumption (The World Bank 2017; IEA 2017a). With South Africa (the second economy of SSA and an outlier in the region) excluded, this unbalance gets even more pronounced, with 2.9% of world’s population consuming 0.2% of total primary energy. While the share of EA-8 population without access to electricity has fallen from 90% in 2000 to 61% in 2016 (IEA 2017b), the absolute number of people without access has instead increased by eight million as electrification efforts have been outpaced by rapid population growth.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 3. Country-Level Analysis: Power Sector, Energy Resources, and Policy Context

Abstract

With an installed capacity of 41 MW and a total generation of 300 GWh in 2015 (United Nations 2015), Burundi is characterised by particularly low electricity access figures. Only 10% of the ten million inhabitants is served by electricity, with the rate reaching 35% in urban areas and dropping to 6% in rural areas (IEA 2017b). Households located in the capital Bujumbura account for the bulk of electricity consumption. Electricity represents however just 1.3% of the national energy consumption, and—as seen in Fig. 3.1—most of the generation capacity (91%) comes from hydropower, with two small (<50 MW) plants active in Lake Kivu, with the other main source of generation being represented by diesel plants (RISE 2017).

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 4. Electrification Scenarios

Abstract

In EA-7 (as defined in Chap. 1, i.e. EA excluding South Africa) demand for power is expected to undergo a three-fold increase by 2030, as a result of both electrification (new consumers who gain access), and of increased consumption by already electrified households and by an emerging industrial sector.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 5. Conditions for RE Deployment and Energy Development

Abstract

Irrespective of technical abundancy, RE potential per se does not imply a structural and inclusive expansion of energy access and an overall sustainable energy development of EA. Proper technological, economic, institutional, and policy considerations must be made to assess which are the best ways and most apt policies to sustain the exploitation of such potential in the regional context in relation to other energy sources, as well as which roadblocks and challenges are faced. A first meaningful consideration in this sense is that EA is characterised by a strong rural-urban imbalance: the majority of the population lives in poorly interconnected rural communities away from the electricity grid, which serves predominantly densely populated urban centres. While plans to tackle the imbalance are in place in virtually every country (both Kenya and South Africa have achieved notable results in this sense), the issue is not going to be structurally overcome rapidly. Thus, as highlighted by the least-cost electrification scenarios in Chap. 4, when discussing the case for renewables to increase and improve access, a distinction must be made between national grid expansion to reach additional shares of the population, and specific decentralised solutions.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 6. RE Interaction with NG Resources

Abstract

A highly relevant question in the discussion on the energy development of EA concerns the relationship that will materialise between RE and the abundant NG resources that are undergoing production in the region. Already in previous chapters it was evidenced that a configuration of RE-NG complementarity could become the least-cost and most sustainable pathway: (1) to guarantee a full electrification of EA; (2) to match the steeply growing demand for power to feed an emerging industrial sector; and (3) to contribute to the objective of clean cooking. In particular, gas could indeed contribute to the displacement of coal in electricity generation, and thus allow for substantial potential greenhouse gas emissions’ reductions.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Chapter 7. Conclusions and Policy Implications

Abstract

This book has investigated the potential of RE to empower an energy development process in EA, the key challenges to its exploitation, and its relationship with other energy sources. We have touched upon the reasons behind the lagging behind of EA-7 countries in energy development terms, and we have discussed how their technical potential could be effectively turned into installed capacity. At the same time, we have also highlighted a number of technical, economic, cooperation, policy, and financing challenges which must be tackled to achieve such objective.

Manfred Hafner, Simone Tagliapietra, Giacomo Falchetta, Giovanni Occhiali

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Backmatter

Title: Renewables for Energy Access and Sustainable Development in East Africa
Authors: Prof. Manfred Hafner
Prof. Dr. Simone Tagliapietra
Giacomo Falchetta
Dr. Giovanni Occhiali
Copyright Year: 2019
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-030-11735-1
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-11734-4
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11735-1