Since the energy needs of Africa are constantly increasing, 19 countries committed to joining their forces to create the African Clean Energy Corridor. Their work will be led by the IRENA. The stakeholders strongly believe that their regional approach could bring them the investors that they need.
The Corridor
The energy corridor will stretch from Cairo to Cape Town. This is the route where the energy infrastructure will be built to meet the ever growing energy needs of the population. At the moment Ethiopia is home to the largest wind farm on the continent and it has plans for increasing its capacity even further.
Power Africa
This is a project that you may have heard about before, since it has been introduced by President Obama. The Corbetti Project is a new model meant to facilitate the development of large scale projects that are meant to be developed in Africa.
How will they do it?
The IRENA has come up with a plan to make it all possible. They will try to identify the regions that are rich in renewable energy potential. This is where the wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal projects will be clustered. It will facilitate the work of the government so that renewable energy will have a bigger share of the energy mix. It will implement new investment frameworks and financing models that will make the projects possible and it will raise awareness regarding the need for renewable energy through different campaigns.
The Need
According to current estimates, the need for energy will triple in Africa over the course of 25 years which means that the use of fossil fuel will become unsustainable. About 8% of the used energy comes from coal and the need for energy increases by 4% every year. In Eastern Africa 60% of the energy comes from natural gas and in this case the demand increases by 6% each year.
What do the Officials have to say?
In order to make sure that the needs of the population will be met, there is need for implementing out-of-the-box solutions. There is need for drastic changes in the approach to the problem of energy and it is a must for Africa to use its potential for renewable energy to the fullest.
IRENA
The International Renewable Energy Agency has been established in 2009 and since then it offered support to 123 counties and the European Union regarding renewable energy solutions.
