Energy ministers and delegates from 19 countries committed to the creation of an Africa Clean Energy Corridor, at a meeting held in Abu Dhabi recently, convened by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)
The Corridor will aim to boost the deployment of renewable energy and help meet rising African energy demand with clean, indigenous, cost-effective power from sources including hydro, geothermal, biomass, wind and solar.
“The Africa Clean Energy Corridor will provide the continent with the opportunity to leapfrog into a sustainable energy future,” said Adnan Z Amin, IRENA’s director-general during the meeting according to the Agency.
“The dynamic development that Africa will see in the next decades needs to extend to the energy sector, and Africa’s abundant renewable energy resources are a perfect match to meet rising demand in a sustainable and cost-effective way – from Cairo to Cape Town.”
Electricity demand is expected to triple in Southern Africa, and quadruple in Eastern Africa over the next quarter-century.
A regional approach to developing the vast renewable energy resources will optimise the energy mix and attract more investment, the Agency said.
The Action Agenda includes the identification of renewable power development zones to cluster renewable plants in areas high with renewable resource potential, integrated resource planning to include greater shares of renewable energy in the energy mix, new financing models and investment frameworks, knowledge and capacity building by IRENA and public information campaigns.
