Electricity and Control February 2024

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT

How do we achieve the energy future Africa needs? Nadja Haakansson, Managing Director for Africa at Siemens Energy In 2022, global emissions reached a record high of 36.8 billion tonnes of CO 2 . During 2023 several months broke global warming records and scientists at the European Union’s climate change service forecast that it could be the warmest year ever logged.With global energy demand expected to surge by some 25% by 2030 and emissions expected to continue to grow, we face energy poverty in combination with climate impact, for the most vulnerable populations in the world. is implementation to achieve the desired change.

Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy.

S ome 775 million people still lack access to the most basic means of electricity; 600 million in Africa, and with the population growth rates the mounting chal lenges will have devastating outcomes, unless we unite to resolve the most significant hurdles. The continent, which accounts for around 3% of total emissions globally, loses between USD 7 and 15 billion an nually from climate change impacts and this is projected to climb to USD 50 billion by 2030. Africa also faces a climate finance gap of USD 213 billion between now and 2030, ac cording to the African Development Bank Group (AfDB). Adding more urgency to the situation, Africa has the fastest growing population in the world, which is expected to reach 2.5 billion by 2050, according to the United Nations. We need to implement the solutions that deliver energy in the most sustainable, reliable, and affordable way. Writing just ahead of COP28, we look to the people who will convene there and that can make this a reality. What is required is that COP28 delivers, despite challenging global and geopolitical circumstances, the will and collective ac tion that turns information sharing, marketing, and vague recommendations into tangible action plans. What matters

Regional and global development finance institutions, global energy decision-makers, governments and compa nies all need to commit to supporting Africa in building the energy future it needs. Recognising today’s challenges Although Africa accounts for a fifth of the global population, the region has attracted only 2 to 3% of global energy investment, according to the AfDB and the International Energy Agency (IEA) in their recent Financing Clean Energy in Africa [1] report. A major reason for this has been that, historically, the overall risk profile for projects in Africa made them signifi cantly more expensive to finance than those in advanced economies. This was exacerbated by higher borrowing costs due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia’s war in Ukraine. Despite Africa’s immense green energy potential, developers have often abandoned projects because they could not see their viability. The AfDB and IEA propose the easing of financing costs to unlock a wave of clean energy spend in Africa. Current

ly, the cost of capital for energy projects in African countries is at least 2 to 3 times higher than in ad vanced economies and China. According to the report, to deliver modern energy to all Africans by 2030, we will need to double the current energy investment in Africa. That means over USD 200 billion in spending per year, of which two thirds will need to be directed to clean energy. The commercial case for an African just transition Two important recent announce ments may go a long way to help mitigate climate financing chal lenges, by drawing attention to the opportunities and stimulating the commercial prospects that sustain-

Siemens Energy is active in driving the development of renewable energy plants in Africa.

12 Electricity + Control FEBRUARY 2024