Unreliable Electricity- Is There Any Relief?

By Megha Rana

East African homes, businesses, and industries have been forced to live with irregular and costly power due to inefficient state-owned electricity firms that follow often unsuccessful government procedures.  A study executed by Clarion Energy and the Gordon Institute of Business Science from the University of Pretoria in South Africa tells us that instabilities within the Kenyan government have been a leading cause of concern for government-owned utility firms because they poorly impact the firm’s management processes. As mentioned previously, because these companies often have to follow governmental rules (which are still doubtful in efficiency of properly providing power), it becomes detrimental for the firm and their outcomes. 

Africa’s large operational inefficiencies have caused the region to suffer soaring energy prices, estimated to be more than $3 billion dollars annually. Many of the electricity providers of public or private sectors also struggle to break even, making investments a limited option. For instance, the company ‘Kenya Power,’ 50.1% of which is owned by the state, has been dealing with a demand crisis due to its escalated electricity bills, corruption, and increasing shift to renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and hydropower. 

This shift in the source of electricity may just prove to be a more viable and affordable option, as data has also shown. New data reveals that there is a great potential for wind, solar, and hydropower particularly in regions of East Africa that currently lack electricity and/or do not have stable sources of electricity. For 70% of the areas in Kenya without electricity, there is high potential for solar energy. Uganda also has great potential for all types of renewable energy (solar, wind, hydropower), a solution from which 6.8 million people could benefit. 

This expansion in access could also help to improve both education and health care in East Africa. An analysis from Energy Access Explorer displays that 60% of the area in which Uganda’s schools and hospitals are located has great potential for small-scale hydropower. To add on, in Kenya there is also considerable potential for small-scale hydropower in 68% of the areas in which Kenyan healthcare and educational facilities are located. Almost all of Tanzania’s areas of schools and hospitals (approximately 98%) have high potential for solar energy and 70% of those areas have potential for hydropower. 

In essence, to address this issue of access to reliable electricity across vast areas of East Africa, renewable energy sources may just come to the rescue, and if all goes according to plan, renewables could be a notable source within the next decade. According to the United Nations, renewable energy sources are on their way to generate half of the sub-Saharan power by 2040. Vera Songwe, the UN Under Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, herself says that the great news is that the potent case for clean energy in Africa has never been stronger than now. This is largely due to the demand for energy with a growing population, increasing urbanization, industrialization and trade, and, of course, climate change.