Modelling tools support sustainable energy transition across Africa
In many African regions, access to affordable and sustainable energy for cooking and other purposes remains a challenge. In addition, climate change is causing increasingly harsh living conditions, including hotter and more humid weather and more frequent extreme events. By 2040, over 1 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa will need cooling – a lot more energy will be needed.
The European Union-funded project ONEPlanET, which started last month, aims to empower African policy makers, researchers, investors and citizens as they gain the tools and know-how they need to increase clean energy generation while also reducing inequalities and cultural and socio-economic gaps.
To address the needs of its growing urban population and economy, Africa needs to double its energy supply by 2040 and ensure electricity access for an additional 600 million people. Tackling this challenge requires an energy transition that makes use of synergies with other energy and non-energy resource infrastructures, such as food and water. The water, energy and food (WEF) sectors are inextricably linked. This means that an integrated nexus approach is required to ensure water and food security, sustainable agriculture and energy production – particularly considering the effects of climate change.
ONEPlanET will support African decision-makers in making effective energy policy choices by:
- Providing scientific knowledge to reduce the financial risk associated with investments in renewable energy sources projects.
- Supporting efforts to adopting a systemic approach to innovation.
- Integrating African electricity markets to reduce the cost of electricity through trade by maximizing the share or renewable energy generation capacity.
The project includes three African case studies: the Songwe River Basin in Malawi and Tanzania, the Inkomati-Usuthu river management area in South Africa, and the Niger River Basin in Nigeria. Project partners will co-design and test a toolkit with stakeholders in the three river basins. The toolkit will build on existing WEF nexus models and methodologies, which allow the simulation of scenarios that optimise existing resources with policies that consider social, climate, economic and biophysical constraints. The project will also create a Knowledge Hub that will include capacity building materials and knowledge-sharing activities.
“A clean energy transition in Africa will be critical for development opportunities. By using the WEF nexus approach adopted in ONEPlanET, multiple benefits across economic sectors can be leveraged, and trade-offs between sectors avoided. This makes policy implementation more effective, and it will help progress towards many of the UN Sustainable Development Goals”
IHE Delft and the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa will coordinate the Songwe River Basin case study. This will include engaging stakeholders, deploying models and deriving core policy messages. In addition, IHE Delft and the University of Valladolid, Spain, will develop the water module in the WEF nexus system model that will be developed as part of the project. IHE Delft will also play a key role in the capacity development and education related aspects in the project.
OnePlanET is coordinated by RINA, an Italian consulting company, and brings together 11 multidisciplinary partners from nine countries in Africa and Europe.
The project has received funding from the European Union under grant agreement number 101084127.