African leaders have been urged to come together and develop the continent’s huge energy potential to spur economic activities and industrialisation.
Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo, Director for Renewable Energy at the Bui Power Authority (BPA) in the Republic of Ghana made the call in a presentation at the recent 57th Annual Meeting of the Association of Power Utilities of Africa in Lilongwe, capital of Malawi.
He noted that Africa has all it takes to be self-sufficient in providing sustainable energy for the development of Africa.
Mr. Ahiataku-Togobo added that Africa is endowed with huge energy potential notably hydropower, petroleum, natural gas, biomass (woodfuel) and uranium for nuclear power.
According to him, despite the huge energy potential, the continent has not been able to maximise it, stating that for instance, Africa has the highest untapped hydropower potential in the world yet only 11 per cent has been utilised compared to 85 per cent in Europe and America.
He said industrialised countries like Germany, China, India and Malaysia are where they are because of cheap electricity from clean coal and nuclear power.
He said carbon dioxide emission from Africa is very low and therefore not out of place to use a fraction of the coal resource exported from Africa to the industrialized nations to equally produce cheap power within the continent.
“It is not too late for Africa to follow the examples of China, India and Malaysia to utilise its energy resources for providing cheaper electricity to drive industries and add value to the abundant natural resources,” he said.
He added that currently, there is no evidence that dependable variable Renewable Energy sources such as solar, wind or tidal electricity support industrialisation without first having adequate baseload power from coal, natural gas, hydro or nuclear.
Touching on energy transition, Mr. Ahiataku-Togobo observed that World Trade is now shifting towards green markets.
Given this, he urges industries in Africa to strategically position themselves to take advantage of the green energy resources potential in the continent to compete favourably in the green market.
He said, “This is why Bui Power Authority and Volta River Authority are focusing on the deployment of Renewable Energy to support local industries for them to compete in the green market.”
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com