Electricity, Renewable Sources, and Development: A Glance at Eritrea
August 28, 2013
Fikrejesus Amahazion
fikrejesus87_at_gmail.com
Across the developing world and particularly within sub-Saharan Africa
(SSA), energy deficiencies constitute immense challenges to development. The
African Development Bank Group notes that, ".the entire installed generation
capacity of Africa's 48 Sub-Saharan countries is just 68 gigawatts, no more
than Spain's..," and that, ".as much as one quarter of that capacity is
unavailable because of aging plants and poor maintenance."[i][i] Quite
ominously, the International Electricity Agency (IEA) estimates that
overcoming Africa's energy deficiencies will require an investment of
approximately $300 billion.[ii][ii]
Recently, energy has arisen as a topic of note in Eastern Africa. Kenya and
Tanzania have discussed a partnership to exploit geothermal
energy,[iii][iii] while Sudan has sought to work with Turkey in areas of
mining, power generation and hydrocarbons.[iv][iv] In the Horn of Africa,
the focus has been on the continued progress of Ethiopia's hydroelectric dam
- the massive Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Blue Nile - and the
potential crisis that may develop with Egypt. The dam is projected to
alleviate Ethiopia's debilitating internal energy issues - a large
percentage of citizens lack access to electricity and outages remain
frequent[v][v] - while helping Ethiopia emerge as a key exporter of power to
the surrounding region.
Although several countries have been outlined as potential recipients of
Ethiopian hydropower in the future, including Sudan, Djibouti, and Kenya,
its northern neighbor, Eritrea, likely will not be one. Even with the latest
Ethiopian offers of electricity to Eritrea - dismissed as a hollow political
ploy[1][1] by Eritrea's Foreign Minister H.E. Osman Saleh - the continued
illegal military occupation of Eritrean land and the fact Eritrea cannot
afford to entrust such a strategic resource to the whims of Ethiopian
leaders that have reneged on past international agreements, serve as
stumbling blocks to any potential deals for future energy
cooperation.[vi][vi] Thus, with much of the Horn region's future energy
capacities seemingly accounted for, Eritrea's own energy sector development
deserves examination. This piece provides a brief glance at Eritrea's
approach to energy, especially focusing on the country's development of
alternative and renewable sources, and also notes challenges, recent
achievements, and exciting possibilities.
First, the importance of access to electricity within socio-economic
development cannot be overstated. Electricity is significant to development
since basic activities like lighting, refrigeration, heating and air
conditioning, cooking, running household appliances, and operating equipment
are not easily or efficiently carried out via other forms of
energy.[vii][vii] For rural based countries such as Eritrea, sustainable,
reliable provisions of electricity can prove especially crucial for economic
progress and general development. For example, a farmer with access to
electricity is able to chill milk to keep it from spoiling or a coastal
fisherman can keep a catch fresher longer before eventually selling it in
markets inland. As a result, electrified rural communities are better able
to integrate into the larger national economy.
Additionally, general societal health services may improve since electrified
medical facilities with reliable access to electricity can: remain open
longer, thus servicing a larger number of patients; expand provisions of
available services; and utilize better technical equipment. For education,
electricity can be significant, since (better) lighting in classrooms eases
reading activities for students, while it may lead to the incorporation of
media, computers, and other modern technologies to enrich students' overall
learning experiences (Obrecht 2010). As well, electricity is vital to
telecommunications, helping to connect people, markets, and economies.
Access to electricity also frees vital amounts of time for individuals since
they no longer must collect wood or kerosene to accomplish other important
tasks, such as schooling or pursuing more productive activities to generate
additional sources of income. Importantly, the use of electricity in place
of firewood can serve to stem or reverse harmful deforestation; cutting
trees for firewood and charcoal has historically been the main culprit for
clearing wooded areas in Eritrea. Finally, the transition to electricity
from traditional energy sources in the developing world, such as kerosene,
is advantageous since kerosene can be expensive, at times costing families
30% of their income, extremely flammable, often leading to fires, and
dangerous, frequently leading to indoor air pollution and health hazards
(Obrecht 2010).
Eritrea's challenges to energy security relate to its low national income,
challenging physical terrain, and post-war infrastructural destruction.
Located within the volatile Horn of Africa, Eritrea was birthed after
decades of war. Upon winning independence, it faced destruction upon a mass
scale and, ".everything was destroyed [and there were].no roads, no
electricity, no water, no health, no education.nothing was there"; for all
intents and purposes, Eritrea started from well "below zero."[viii][viii]
While the immediate postwar years witnessed significant and positive
developments within many sectors, the 1998-2000 war with Ethiopia
represented a dramatic step back, coming with high human, economic, and
infrastructural costs. These factors extended to negatively impact the
development of the energy sector; for example, during the 1998-2000 war,
Ethiopia bombed the Hirgogo power station, which was near the end of
construction and close to operational.[ix][ix]
For some perspective, in Eritrea the percentage of the population with
access to electricity, although rising, has hovered at approximately 32-35%.
By comparison, figures across the East African region show: Ethiopia at 23%,
Kenya at 18%, Uganda at 8.5%, and Sudan at 36%, while figures for Djibouti,
South Sudan, and Somalia remain unavailable.[x][x] Broadening the
assessment, some 24% of the population of SSA has access to
electricity.[xi][xi]
Turning to electricity use per capita (2008 data), Eritrea's figure stands
at approximately 49 kWh per capita, while for the same indicator, Ethiopia
is at 42, Sudan is at 104, Uganda's is 40, Somalia is at 33, Djibouti is at
394, and Kenya's is 148.[xii][xii] These figures illustrate that Eritrea and
other countries in the region have significant room for growth and
improvement in terms of energy.....
.Continue to read in PDF
Received on Wed Aug 28 2013 - 21:13:09 EDT