Climate change is the greatest challenge of our time for development. Adaptation to this change combined with the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions can help to boost the economic transformation which stimulates growth, fills the energy gap and reduces poverty. This paper focuses on the potential of renewable energy sources (RES) for electricity generation in Madagascar which is a lower-income country. A large accessibility to electricity could be a driving force for the economic development of this fourth worldwide Island. The Electricity mix is currently heavily dependent to fossil fuel imports. Indeed, most of the electric demands are fulfilled by diesel power plants.An overview of the power situation and renewable energy potential of Madagascar is first presented, then different scenarios for the evolution its electricity mix are proposed.

In tropical environments, the design of bioclimatic houses adapted to their environment is a crucial issue when considering comfort and limiting energy needs. A preliminary part of such design is an accurate knowledge of the climatic conditions in each region of the studied territory. The objective of this paper is to propose climatic zoning from a database of 47 meteorological stations in Madagascar by investigating hierarchical clustering on principal components. Then, theses results are combined with a spatial interpolation using a Geographic Information System approach. This step allows us to define three climatic zones corresponding to dry, humid and highland zones. These results make it possible to define standard meteorological files that are used to evaluate the thermal performance of traditional Malagasy houses. Regardless of the type of house and the areas considered, the percentage of comfort, according to Givoni bioclimatic chart, varies from an average value of 20 % to 70 % without ventilation and with an air velocity of 1 m/s, respectively. It can be concluded that Madagascar's traditional habitat has adapted over time to the constraints of its environment.

Rural electrification remains a great challenge for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as access to electricity is a prerequisite to accelerate its development. The present paper reviews the measures adopted to promote access to electricity in rural and remote areas of SSA. The main barriers to rural electrification in these developing countries are presented before showing technologies used for the aforementioned purpose. Then, adopted methods for enhancing the use of renewable energy in SSA are shown. Moreover, the policy adopted by decision makers and project planners are also highlighted. In addition, the optimal solutions proposed by researchers are given such as the cost-effective off-grid system type that might be a viable alternative to diesel power generation.

No abstract

No abstract