2 African Energy Challenges in the Transition Era …
57
Renewable energy is being viewed by many as the panacea to achieve
some sort of a leapfrogging success in satisfying the energy demand gap
in the region.
62
2.3.7 Government’s Involvement in Regulating
off-Grid Energy Generation Capacities
Off-grid power generation strategies are energy sources that do not have
their electricity from the national grid. This could either be due to their
proximity to the national grid, or the price of connecting to the national
grid is outrageous. As a result, they have decided to generate their own
source of energy independently. The region’s geographical setting is such
that certain population are widely dispersed, and this makes a connection
to the national grid through the installation of transmission and distribution line very expensive in the long run. This kind of situation is often
the cause of the region’s inability to solve the energy access challenge.
One way to get around this is to encourage independent energy generation through companies which produce, for instance, photovoltaic solar
panels for households and commercial users who operate during the day
when the sun condition is remarkably favourable in the region. Now
what is tenable in some countries across the region is that governments
are now beginning to be involved through regulation. The government’s
involvement invariably frustrates the goal of granting more people, access
to energy as the cost of energy becomes expensive.
Regulatory agenda calculated at expanding centralized generation
capacity is not the only way to electrify the region. Off-grid and
distributed energy systems strategies create new opportunities to bridge
the electricity access problem in both regions. In the past, these offgrid energy systems were fuelled by diesel, which poses risks while
transporting them to remote areas. Currently, the modular nature of
renewable energy like solar and small-scale hydropower through research
and development has opened new dimensions in mitigating such risks.
62 VR Nalule, Energy Poverty and Access Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Regionalism
(Springer, 2018).
57
Renewable energy is being viewed by many as the panacea to achieve
some sort of a leapfrogging success in satisfying the energy demand gap
in the region.
62
2.3.7 Government’s Involvement in Regulating
off-Grid Energy Generation Capacities
Off-grid power generation strategies are energy sources that do not have
their electricity from the national grid. This could either be due to their
proximity to the national grid, or the price of connecting to the national
grid is outrageous. As a result, they have decided to generate their own
source of energy independently. The region’s geographical setting is such
that certain population are widely dispersed, and this makes a connection
to the national grid through the installation of transmission and distribution line very expensive in the long run. This kind of situation is often
the cause of the region’s inability to solve the energy access challenge.
One way to get around this is to encourage independent energy generation through companies which produce, for instance, photovoltaic solar
panels for households and commercial users who operate during the day
when the sun condition is remarkably favourable in the region. Now
what is tenable in some countries across the region is that governments
are now beginning to be involved through regulation. The government’s
involvement invariably frustrates the goal of granting more people, access
to energy as the cost of energy becomes expensive.
Regulatory agenda calculated at expanding centralized generation
capacity is not the only way to electrify the region. Off-grid and
distributed energy systems strategies create new opportunities to bridge
the electricity access problem in both regions. In the past, these offgrid energy systems were fuelled by diesel, which poses risks while
transporting them to remote areas. Currently, the modular nature of
renewable energy like solar and small-scale hydropower through research
and development has opened new dimensions in mitigating such risks.
62 VR Nalule, Energy Poverty and Access Challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Role of Regionalism
(Springer, 2018).