AU-EU Partnership Launches Renewable Energy Program
African Union, Features | 09.20.10 By Bola Omisore
Solar energy has become an increasingly 'hot' issue in Africa
With a $6.5 million pledge, the AU-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP) has launched the Renewable Energy Cooperation Program (RECP), created to provide sustainable energy sources for both Europe and Africa.
According to AEEP, the African Union and the European Union will work together to bring access to modern and sustainable energy services to an additional 100 million Africans by 2020.
“Africa has a vast untapped renewable energy potential, ranging from hydro, to solar, wind, geothermal and biomass,” Andris Piebalgs, EU Development Commissioner, said in a statement.
“(It) could be used to ensure millions of people access to electricity.”
The pledge comes as business leaders from the African Renewable Energy Alliance (AREA) prepare to converge in Berlin in October, to produce energy policy makers, business leaders and technologists in Africa, says Renewable Energy Academy, the German based group hosting the conference.
The $6.5 million is to be used to build 10,000 megawatts of hydro-power, at least 5,000 MW of wind turbines, 500 MW of solar power facilities and raise energy efficiency.
Solar energy has become an increasingly hot issue since scientists have discovered just how much energy can be harvested in Africa.
According to TIME reporter Vivienne Walt, “in theory, a 35,000-square mile chunk of the Sahara — smaller than Portugal and a little over 1% of its total area — could yield the same amount of electricity as all the world’s power plants combined.”
Naturally, African leaders have wasted no time ensuring their countries have a stake in the emerging industry.
In July, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) endorsed a Senegalese initiative that allows the country to harness its solar energy, and in August, Mozambique announced plans to produce solar panels to sustain its ever-increasing solar energy grid.
Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and most countries in that region have all developed sophisticated solar markets.
In addition, Morocco is well positioned to become North Africa’s leading provider of renewable energy.
The AEEP pledge could mark a change in African investment in solar energy.
Although many African nations have begun to invest in solar energy, none of the oil-rich African nations have invested as much of their oil revenue as the United Arab Emirates, which boasts solar islands and multiple solar power plants and has emerged as a model solar energy developer.
The partnership is a long-term framework for cooperation between Africa and the EU on energy issues of strategic importance.
It is designed to increase European and African investments in energy infrastructure and in energy interconnections within Africa and between Africa and Europe.
The two commissions also agreed to work on the standardization and integration of their energy markets
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