Worldwatch: Renewables, Energy Efficiency Could Sustain West African Development

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Renewable energy and efficiency technologies rapidly have become solutions for overcoming energy challenges in West African states, according to a new report.

The members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are strongly promoting renewable energy and energy efficiencies, according to a report by the Worldwatch Institute (Washington D.C.), in collaboration with REN 21 (Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century) and the Centre for Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE). ECOWAS includes Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Cote d' Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.

Mahamia Kappiah, executive director of ECREEE, said a lack of reliable and up-to-date energy sources in West African countries constrains energy investments. The report is "a tool to make information on these activities in the region readily available to different stakeholders, as well as to local and global investors, developers and project promoters by showcasing the ECOWAS region as one of the most active regions in Africa for the promotion of renewable and energy efficiency," he said.

Alexander Ochs, director of the Worldwatch Institute's climate and energy program said, "With national policies and regional cooperation just taking shape, the big renewable energy boom in West Africa is yet to come. An economically, socially and environmentally prosperous Africa can only be built on the foundation of a sustainable energy system."

Some of the key findings of the report are:

• In early 2014, the region had an installed capacity of 39 megawatts (MW) of grid-connected renewable electricity (excluding hydropower). The inclusion of hydropower boosts that total to 4.8 gigawatts (GW). Renewable energy technologies account for an estimated 28.8% of the region's total installed grid capacity.
• Regional new investment in renewable power and fuels from six leading ECOWAS member states (Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone) was $29.7 million in 2013, well down from the peak of $370 million in 2011.
• Hydropower accounted for 57% of total installed electricity capacity in Ghana. It also played a significant role in Guinea (34.2%), Togo (28.8%), Cote d'Ivoire (28.2%) and Nigeria (16.2%). As of early 2014, only 19% of the region's estimated 25 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower potential had been exploited.
• Wind provided 27 MW of installed capacity. The use of solar PV technology is limited largely to distributed and non-grid functions, with Senegal leading with 21 MW followed by Nigeria with 20 MW and Niger with 4 MW.
• By the end of 2014, 13 ECOWAS states had adopted renewable energy support policies, with all 15 member states having at least one policy or one target promoting renewable energy.

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