The establishment of a regional centre for renewable energy
in southern Africa is expected to go a long way in ensuring the harmonisation
of standards in a region inundated with an influx of various solar products and
technologies.
This was one of the main sentiments expressed during the
official launch of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Centre for
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) in Windhoek on 24 October.
The majority of speakers during the ceremony said SACREEE
should act as a “clearing house” for setting standards in the SADC renewable
energy sector.
Players in the sector are presently allowed to import any
renewable energy products and technologies without adhering to any set
standards.
According to Botswana Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology
and Energy Security, Eric Molale, this has seen the region importing products
and technologies that were not made for local conditions.
He narrated an incident in which one of his officials
purchased solar panels from a Botswana distributor but the products melted
within days because they were not made for local conditions.
“SACREEE should, therefore, be our standard setter to ensure
that the technologies we are importing is suitable for our climatic
conditions,” Molale said.
Namibia Minister of Mines and Energy, Tom Alweendo said in
addition to being a clearing house for standards in the sector, the
establishment of SACREEE comes at a time when the global renewable energy
landscape is fast-changing in terms of the development of new technologies.
“Renewable energy technologies are fast-changing and we need
to be able to move with the changes. We believe SACREEE could assist us in this
regard,” Alweendo said.
SACREEE would, among other things, spearhead the promotion
of renewable energy development in the region.
It is expected to contribute substantially to the
development of thriving regional renewable energy and energy efficiency markets
through knowledge sharing and technical advice in the areas of policy and
regulation, technology cooperation, capacity development, as well as investment
promotion.
It has been agreed that the centre should be an independent
SADC institution that should be owned and supported by member states for
sustainability purposes.
Such a development would give the centre more authority to
spearhead efforts to increase the uptake of renewable energy sources in the
region.
SADC is working closely with the United Nations Industrial
Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) to
accelerate implementation.
ADA Managing Director, Martin Ledolter said SACREEE would
assist SADC to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 on universal access to
sustainable energy services by 2030.
“Our partnership with UNIDO in the global network of
sustainable energy centres – of which SACREEE is a member – is a significant
example of how we are synergising global efforts so as to make SDG7 a reality
for all,” Ledolter said.
According to SADC Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena
Lawrence Tax, about 61% of the more than 300 million people in southern Africa
get “their daily energy needs for space heating and cooking by collecting
fuelwood, agricultural residue and animal waste.”
“The ongoing initiatives at national level that are
stimulated through regional commitment resulted in increase of weighted average
on access to electricity from 36% in June 2013 to 48% observed in June 2018,”
Dr Tax said in a speech read on her behalf by Dr Domingos Gove, director of
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources at the SADC Secretariat.
ADA supports seven renewable energy centres around the
world. The first regional centre for renewable energy and energy efficiency
opened in 2010 in West Africa.
Five others have been established in East Africa, southern
Africa, the Caribbean, the Pacific region and Central America. Another centre
in the Himalayas is currently in the planning stage.
The official launch of SACREEE is part of the First
Operational Phase of the centre during which it has primarily focused on
developing renewable energy programmes for the region and resource
mobilisation.
Initially set to run from 2014-2017, the phase delayed
completion by a year.
The Second Operational Phase, from 2018-2021, will focus on
activities to ensure sustainability of the centre after the exit of
international cooperating partners.
According to the African Development Bank, southern Africa
has the potential to become a “gold mine” for renewable energy due to the
abundant solar and wind resources that are now hugely sought after by
international investors in their quest for clean energy.
For example, the overall hydropower potential in SADC is
estimated at about 1,080 terawatt hours per year (TWh/year) but capacity being
utilised at present is just under 31 TWh/year. A terawatt is equal to one
million megawatts.
The SADC region is also hugely endowed with watercourses
such as the Congo and Zambezi, with the Inga Dam situated on the Congo River
having the potential to produce about 40,000 megawatts (MW) of electricity,
according to the Southern African Power Pool.
With regard to geothermal, the United Nations Environment
and the Global Environment Facility estimate that about 4,000 MW of electricity
is available along the Rift Valley in Tanzania, Malawi and Mozambique.
SACREEE would, among other things, spearhead the promotion
of renewable energy development in the region.
It is expected to contribute substantially to the
development of thriving regional renewable energy and energy efficiency markets
through knowledge sharing and technical advice in the areas of policy and
regulation, technology cooperation, capacity development, as well as investment
promotion.
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