Africa Accelerates the Development of Renewable Energy
Relevant reports of the International Energy Agency indicate that Africa is rich in renewable energy resources. Solar, wind and hydropower reserves account for 40%, 32% and 12% of the global total respectively, presenting huge potential for the development of renewable energy. In recent years, African countries have accelerated the development of renewable energy. China attaches great importance to cooperation with Africa in renewable energy, and an increasing number of Chinese enterprises have participated in the green development process in Africa.
Currently, many African countries are actively promoting the construction of renewable energy projects. The Tunisian National Energy Management Agency announced not long ago that it has set the development of renewable energy as a national strategy, striving to increase the proportion of renewable energy generation in the total power generation from less than 3% in 2022 to 24% by 2025. Tunisia has more than 3,000 hours of sunshine throughout the year. The government plans to build 8 solar photovoltaic power stations and 8 wind power stations between 2023 and 2025, with a total installed capacity of 800 megawatts and 600 megawatts respectively. Currently, several renewable energy construction projects with a total investment of 4 billion Tunisian dinars (about 1 US dollar equivalent to 3.1 Tunisian dinars) are all ready, and it is expected to create thousands of jobs.
According to Niger's latest energy strategic plan, 30% of the country's electricity will come from renewable energy by 2030, and the installed power capacity will increase at least five times to reach 2,000 megawatts. The Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy of Niger recently stated that Niger will fully develop the abundant wind energy in the southern region and build the country's first wind farm with a designed installed capacity of 250 megawatts, consisting of 60 wind turbines, and it is planned to be connected to the grid for power generation in 2025. It is expected that after the completion of the project, Niger's power generation capacity will increase by more than 40%, and it will also be able to export electricity to neighboring countries at a more competitive price.
At present, the total installed capacity of renewable energy power generation projects approved by the Egyptian government has exceeded 12 gigawatts. The Egyptian government stated that it will make full use of resources such as solar and wind energy to promote the implementation of more renewable energy power generation projects. Morocco plans to increase the capacity of renewable energy to 12 gigawatts by 2030 and increase the proportion of renewable energy in the overall energy structure from the current 40% to 52% in the next eight years.
Namibia plans to achieve 70% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. Kenya has designated renewable energy projects such as wind power and geothermal power as development priorities. The comprehensive development project jointly implemented by Sierra Leone, Liberia, Togo and Chad is expected to be completed within four years, providing 106 megawatts of solar power generation capacity, increasing hydropower generation capacity by 41 megawatts, and strengthening distribution and transmission systems at the same time.
The "2023 Outlook Report" released by the African Solar Industry Association last year shows that the photovoltaic industry in Africa is accelerating its development. South Africa, Morocco, Egypt and other countries continue to lead in photovoltaic construction projects. More and more regional countries such as Cape Verde, Botswana and Eritrea are increasing investment in the photovoltaic industry and starting to build and operate large-scale photovoltaic projects.
At the 2023 Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week event held last year, participants jointly released the African Renewable Energy Industry Development Initiative, believing that Africa has superior renewable energy endowments and great development potential. It is expected that by 2050, the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic in Africa will increase to 650 gigawatts. The transformation of renewable energy in Africa will release 1.2 terawatts of renewable energy potential, bring about 14 million new jobs, and boost regional GDP growth by about 6.4%. The initiative calls for strengthening financial, technological and socio-economic investment to massively enhance Africa's capacity for renewable energy transformation and development.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa emphasized in a report that renewable energies such as solar, wind and hydropower are feasible alternative energy sources to meet the rapidly growing electricity demand on the African continent. The World Bank is optimistic about the development prospects of renewable energy in Africa and has recently agreed to invest 311 million US dollars in the West and Central Africa region for the development of renewable energy projects.
According to the "Electricity Market Report 2023" released by the International Energy Agency, the power generation of renewable energy in Africa will increase by more than 60 billion kilowatt-hours from 2023 to 2025, and the proportion of total power generation will increase from 24% in 2021 to 30% in 2025. The New Times of Rwanda reported: "Africa is rich in renewable energy. In recent years, Africa's economy has developed rapidly and faces the realistic demand for energy transformation, which provides broad space for the development of renewable energy on the African continent."
Data from the World Economic Forum shows that only 2% of the 2.8 trillion US dollars of global renewable energy investment in the past 20 years has flowed to Africa. Sacko, the Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Environmentally Sustainable Development of the African Union, said that the development of renewable energy in Africa still faces practical challenges such as lagging infrastructure construction and insufficient technical personnel.
Humphrey Moshi, director of the China Research Center of the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, said that China's renewable energy technologies have advantages such as low cost, strong applicability and good connection conditions. Strengthening renewable energy cooperation between Africa and China is conducive to enhancing Africa's sustainable development capacity on the one hand, and helping to make up for Africa's technical shortcomings in related fields on the other hand. Through repeated cooperation, African countries have learned advanced technologies and management experience from China. Moshi said: "We look forward to further promoting renewable energy cooperation between Africa and China, continuously enriching the cooperation model and connotation, and helping to implement the 'Green Africa' blueprint."