Across the world, countries and organisations are making clean energy transitions. These aim to reduce dependence on fossil fuel energy sources by adopting clean energy practices.
In pursuing the global clean energy transition, countries such as Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are leading the wave.
African countries have also made progress in the transition to clean energy. The International Renewable Energy Agency reported that countries such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and Morroco had expressed strong dedication to modern renewable energy. As a result, solar energy has soared in African energy markets.
Below are some African countries and their recent progress towards improving their energy mix.
1. Togo: A few days ago, Togo launched the largest solar plant in West Africa. The plant has a capacity of 50MW and is expected to provide electric power to over 158,000 residents and reduce over a million tonnes of carbon emissions.
2. Egypt: Recently, Egypt launched a waste-to-power plant project. The plant will utilise anaerobic gasification technology to turn waste into electricity. Egypt produces about 95 million tonnes of waste annually, and the plant can generate 100kWh every year from 2.5 tonnes of waste.
3. Congo: In Congo, the Telecoms company Orange intends to increase renewable energy by 50 per cent in 2025. The company intends to provide electricity to rural areas in the region via Orange Energie, which will allow rural consumers to purchase and install solar kits.
4. African Development Bank Desert-to-Power Project: The African Development Bank Group president recently restated the bank’s commitment to the clean energy initiative by funding this project. The initiative would see 10GW of solar power in Africa’s Sahel region, potentially electrifying 250 million people.
With the above information, one can say that although Africa is not there yet, however, efforts are being made in different regions to achieve access to clean energy.