[amor de cosmos]

01/17/2014 11:10 AM print story email story
19 Countries Form Africa Clean Energy Corridor
SustainableBusiness.com News

19 countries have committed to developing an Africa Clean Energy Corridor to help the continent leap frog to renewable energy in the face of rising energy demand.

Led by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), stakeholders believe a regional approach can attract the most investment and optimize the renewable energy mix.

The corridor will span eastern Africa, from Cairo to Cape Town, where transmission infrastructure is being built to meet growing energy demand.

Currently, Ethiopia hosts the continent's biggest wind farm and has plans for 800 megawatts of wind and 1 gigawatt of geothermal. The Corbetti Project is a new model for developing large scale power projects in Africa and is part of the Power Africa initiative that President Obama announced last summer.

IRENA will facilitate the large-scale, transborder initiative by:

• identifying renewable energy development zones - areas of high potential - where solar, wind, geothermal or biomass projects would be clustered;
• facilitating government planning so that renewable energy has bigger share of the energy mix;
• fostering new financing models and investment frameworks that can rapidly get projects on the ground;
• building the local knowledge base and leading public information campaigns.

Demand for electricity is expected to triple in Southern Africa, and quadruple in Eastern Africa over the 25 years, making the region’s current dependence on fossil fuels increasingly unsustainable both economically and environmentally, says IRENA.

80% of Southern Africa's energy comes from coal, which will need to expand without the growth of renewables because demand is growing at 4% a year. East Africa relies on natural gas for 60% of electricity, with demand rising 6% a year.

“Lifting the African population out of energy poverty cannot be fulfilled if a business-as-usual approach is followed,” says Mosad Elmissiry, Head of Energy at the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, an African Union implementing body. “We need a drastic transformation in our approach to developing renewable energy, to be sure renewables are fully utilised. The Clean Energy Corridor can support and further advance the implementation of the regional and continental initiatives already on the ground for further utilisation of renewable energy in Africa.”

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/i...splay/id/25446

• Video Link