21 Feb 2012

UNEP / AFRICA RENEWABLE ENERGY

According to a new report released today from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), opening up energy markets to private sector investment through the introduction of smart government policies will be the key to unlocking Africa’s massive renewable energy potential. UNEP

Posted at: February 21, 2012 4:57 pm

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STORY: UNEP / AFRICA RENEWABLE ENERGY
TRT: 1.36
SOURCE:  UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 21 FEBRUARY 2011, NAIROBI, KENYA

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of conference room 
2. Cutaway journalist
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Victor Williams, Standard Bank:
"At Standard Bank we have made the financing of renewable energy projects a key element of our work in the 17 African countries in which we are present. And in that work we look to devise and promote solutions to these issues of cost, structure and risk." 
4. Cutaway, meeting
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Adnan Amin, Director General, IRENA: 
"Energy is central to virtually everything we are doing in every economic sector. It provides a perspective for the future. We have increasing growth rates that we are very pleased to see in Africa. But how are we going to feed this with the energy requirement that is going to triple in the next 18 years. So this is a huge challenge in the African setting." 
6. Cutaway, meeting
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP:
"We have a very inequitable energy reality across the planet. And in some ways it is as a result of negligence, as a result of lack of policy reform, as a result of paradigms of energy generation that are outdated in the 21st century." 
8. Cutaway, meeting
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP:
"And in part that is responsible for why three quarters of Africa's population today still do not have access to electricity.  It's not for lack of energy as you have heard on this continent. In fact this continent and in the Sahara alone, in a few hundred square kilometers, receives more solar energy than the entire energy consumption of the planet put together. Just imagine that for a moment." 
10. Med shot, meeting

STORYLINE:

According to a United Nations (UN) report released today (21 Feb) government policies that facilitate private sector investment in energy markets are crucial to help tap Africa's massive renewable energy potential, which can fuel the continent's poverty reduction efforts and put it on a path to sustainable development.

Experts estimate that unless stronger commitments are made to reverse current trends, half the population in sub-Saharan Africa will still be without electricity by 2030.

The report produced by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi to mark the Africa launch of the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, outlines how current obstacles to the scaling-up of sustainable energy solutions in Africa, such as the cost of electricity generation or difficult grid access, can be tackled.

At a press conference launching the report, Victor Williams from Standard Bank, one of UNEP's partners in Africa, said that Standard Bank had made the financing of renewable energy projects a key element of its work in the 17 African countries in which they were present.

Experts estimate that unless stronger commitments are made to reverse current trends, half the population in sub-Saharan Africa will still be without electricity by 2030, and the proportion of the population relying on traditional fuels for household energy needs will remain the highest among all world regions. Such a scenario would severely hamper efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

Adnan Amin, Director General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) said that they had increasing growth rates in Africa. But asked, "how are we going to feed this with the energy requirement that is going to triple in the next 18 years. So this is a huge challenge in the African setting?"

UNEP's Finance Initiative report, entitled 'Financing Renewable Energy in Developing Countries: Drivers and Barriers for Private Finance in sub-Saharan Africa', outlines how current obstacles to the scaling-up of sustainable energy solutions in Africa – such as the cost of electricity generation or difficult grid access - can be tackled.

To meet the continent's growing energy demands, the power sector in Africa needs to install an estimated 7,000 megawatts (MW) of new generation capacity each year.

And UNEP's report argues that much of this can come from Africa's wealth of untapped, domestic renewable resources.

UNEP's Executive Director Achim Steiner said that the African continent and in the Sahara alone, in a few hundred square kilometers, received more solar energy than the entire energy consumption of the planet put together.

Cape Verde, Kenya, Madagascar, Sudan and Chad have particularly significant potential, says the study. According to the African Development Bank Group, Mauritania's wind energy potential is almost four times its annual energy need, while Sudan's is equivalent to 90 per cent of its annual energy needs. This offers both opportunities to improve energy security and create regional markets.

The UNEP report is based on a survey of 38 institutions, mostly from the private sector, which are all involved in energy infrastructure finance in developing countries.