The African Development Bank (AfDB) has highlighted its crucial role in advancing the Desert to Power Initiative, which aims to provide energy to one of the most underdeveloped and marginalized areas of the continent.
The Sahel region, known for its extreme vulnerability, is set to become a solar energy hub, focusing on 11 countries: Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan.
Desert to Power aims to generate 10 GW of solar power by 2030 by leveraging the region’s vast solar potential, thus providing electricity access to 250 million people.
The project stems from the vision of AfDB president Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.
“Desert to Power is what I call the baobab of projects. It will require all our efforts to effect change,” he stated at the latest Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
In December of last year, the AfDB gave the green light to the 225 kV Mauritania-Mali Power Interconnection and Solar Power Plants Development Project (PIEMM), highlighting its significance as a key operation within the Desert to Power Initiative.
The initiative aims to foster regional electricity trade within the Sahel, facilitating Mali’s importation of approximately 600 GWh/y of renewable energy-based electricity from Mauritania. This effort is poised to enhance electricity accessibility in both Mali and Mauritania, consequently improving the overall efficiency of their electricity sectors.
To achieve this, the plan involves curbing fuel consumption and decommissioning high-cost generators, leading to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions.
In the end, the initiative aims to provide electricity to 100,000 additional households, with 80,000 in Mauritania and 20,000 in Mali.
This initiative marks a significant advancement in addressing Africa’s pressing energy access challenges and decreasing reliance on fossil fuels like heavy fuel oil. These fuels contribute significantly to environmental vulnerability in the area, exacerbating climate change, which in turn leads to many of the severe weather events increasingly affecting the continent.
Furthermore, the AfDB has utilized climate finance from global entities like the Green Climate Fund to complement its own funds in backing the Desert to Power Initiative.
The AfDB’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, its largest blended finance facility with commitments exceeding $500 million from 10 donors including Denmark, the US, the UK, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Germany, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, serves as catalytic capital for private-sector projects throughout the Desert to Power countries.
At present, the Desert to Power portfolio encompasses 10 investment projects and over 15 technical assistance operations spanning seven out of the 11 countries involved. This initiative forms part of a wider endeavor to shift Africa towards sustainable energy sources, aiding in the reduction of deforestation and its related effects, as stated by the AfDB.
In Africa, deforestation poses a significant challenge, as people clear an area equivalent to the size of Switzerland annually for cooking and heating needs.
This deforestation leads to increased dust storms, disturbs rainfall patterns, and speeds up desertification, posing significant risks to biodiversity and local climates.
According to the AfDB, its investment in solar energy holds critical importance because dependable and cost-effective energy is vital for decreasing dependence on charcoal. Charcoal not only contributes significantly to deforestation but is also financially burdensome for many households.
The continent’s swift population expansion has heightened the demand for energy, as the population has doubled and is expected to double again to at least 1.2 billion, with nearly half lacking access to electricity.
Although reforestation initiatives are underway in countries like Kenya, Congo, Madagascar, and Malawi, the rate of deforestation exceeds these endeavors. The urgent priority is to rapidly electrify the continent, opting for sustainable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro over more detrimental fossil fuels, as advocated by the AfDB.
Africa possesses vast untapped potential for renewable energy.
The continent boasts an almost boundless solar capacity of approximately 11 TW, significant hydro resources of about 350 GW, with only 5% to 6% currently utilized, wind power potential of about 110 GW, with only about 2% currently harnessed, and geothermal energy sources of up to 15 GW.
Despite this immense potential, 600 million people in Africa lack access to electricity. Africa represents merely 6% of global energy demand and slightly over 3% of electricity demand. This underscores the critical need to expand investments in renewable energy to sustainably meet the continent’s energy requirements, according to the AfDB.
Between 2016 and 2022, the AfDB greenlit $8.3 billion in energy commitments, with 87% allocated to renewable-energy projects. This funding has already yielded 3.4 GW of electricity, including 2.6 GW from renewable sources.
The bank is crafting an African Green Mineral Strategy to leverage the continent’s plentiful critical minerals, such as cobalt, manganese, and platinum, crucial for driving the energy transition.