Energy Efficiency Made Simple Vol IV 2015

There is a wonderful map of Africa that shows how you can fit the countries of the world into the area of Africa. It is a humbling image – especially if you are not African. Energy is the key to continental development. The opportunities are enormous.

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Energy in sub-Saharan Africa Today and tomorrow P Lloyd, Energy Institute, Cape Peninsula University of Technology

E nergy and wealth creation are inextricably linked. The availability of energy sets man free from the physical toil required to win the basic necessities of life – food, water and housing. Freed from physical toil, we can live longer and healthier lives. We can start to control population. Without energy, we need our children to care for us because we are aged before we are 45 and dead before we are 55. With energy, we can gather in cities and be surrounded by the gifts of modern life, including living long enough to see our grandchildren become adults. Figure 1 shows how directly electrical consumption and wealth are related. Sub-Saharan Africa is currently developing strongly, albeit from a very low base. One of the essential elements for development is, however, not receiving the attention it needs, namely energy and particularly electrical energy. The Republic of South Africa is struggling to meet its own needs, yet it has about 40 times as much per capita as the average other sub-Saharan nations. This provides us with a measure of the gap that is to be closed if the region is to have a chance of achieving its potential in the foreseeable future.

on a scale presently undreamt of. So let us reflect on where we are, where we might be going, and what we will have to do to get there.

Where we are Today, the energy scene of sub-Saharan Africa is dominated by one player, South Africa. Its citizens enjoy an average of nearly 6 000 kWh per capita per annum. Interestingly, the per capita consumption has been constant for 25 years, so all growth in generation has been devoted to the well-being of its people, not to economic growth.

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Figure 2: Per-capita consumption of power in sub-Saharan Africa – 1990 – 2012 [1].

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Figure 1: The relation between wealth, as measured by GDP per capita, and electrical consumption [1].

As your income approaches $100 000 per capita (in 2011 $), the chances are that you will use over 10 000 kWh per year. At under $10 000 per capita, you will be lucky to have more than 500 kWh per year. It is not clear whether wealth drives consumption or consumption drives wealth – but what we do know is that you must have energy. Energy is absolutely necessary for development. However, it is not a sufficient condition – there are energy-rich nations whose socio-eco- nomic culture holds back their economic development. It seems likely that over the next 35 years, sub-Saharan Africa’s population will increase dramatically; that we will see cities springing up across our continent; and that we will need to generate power

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Figure 3: Effective overnight costs of various generating technologies [2].

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ENERGY EFFICIENCY MADE SIMPLE 2015