A prospective review of renewable energy developments in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia has a vast renewable energy potential in the context of hydro, wind, solar, and geothermal energies. The unsustainable use of biomass coupled with drought has caused a paradigm shift towards wind, geothermal, and solar energies. There have been significant strides by the Government of Ethiopia to actualize these potentials in the context of developing massive projects in these aforementioned areas with the private business sector in the goal of jettisoning the industrial base of Ethiopia in conjunction with increasing the installed power capacity from 4,300 MW to 17,346 MW by 2020. The major challenge still lies in assessing the comprehensive renewable energy resource potential of Ethiopia including the lack of local content development in the context of establishing an industrial base. There have been notable initiatives by the Government of Ethiopia to adhere to the Paris Climate Accord in conjunction with the Green Growth framework and Sustainability Development Goals. However, the top down approach of grand targets to the various regions is not the pragmatic approach to solving the Achilles heel of energy poverty. A more plausible approach is from the bottom up, whereby energy frameworks and policies are generated by conducting a needs assessment of a specified region. The appropriate technology concept needs to be reflected in the innovation aspects of renewable energy technologies. There has to be a framework of translating invention to innovation by actualizing the tripartite structure of Government, Academia, and Industry.

A Review on Renewable Energy Scenario in Ethiopia

“…Due to the fact that the majority of Ethiopia's energy consumption is satisfied by conventional energy sources, the Ethiopian government has been engaged in a number of initiatives over the past two decades by enacting a variety of policies that are connected to energy production, distribution, and electrification. The use of hydropower, solar power, and wind power as sources of energy is given special consideration [29]. The overarching goal of Ethiopia's national energy policies and strategies is to strengthen and accelerate national efforts centred on the efficient, equitable, and optimal propagation and utilization of available energy resources for significant socioeconomic development and to help promote the country's economic advancement [30].…”

Imaging Africa: a strategic approach to optical microscopy training in Africa

“…These encompass a diverse range of priorities in both basic and translational research, with examples including H3Africa 14 , the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology 15 , the South African Medical Research Council Genomics Centre 16 , the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens, the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/ HIV Research Excellence, the Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS) Africa program, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute, the Africa Health Research Institute, the Institut Pasteur International Network, the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership and DrosAfrica 17 . Such efforts and many others 2,18,19 are helping equip scientific communities to perform cutting-edge research-particularly those in the regions targeted by these programs.…”

Sustainable Financing for Renewable Energy: Examining the Impact of Sectoral Economy on Renewable Energy Consumption

“…More specifically, renewable energy consumption has slowly decreased in recent years, and these potential energy sources have faced barriers to broader adoption. These challenges include a complex and restrictive financing scheme by the Renewable Energy Fund (REF) (Kotu 2012), the lack of a subsidy policy (Hailu and Kumsa 2021), insufficient institutional cooperation among stakeholders (Tiruye et al 2021) and limited public awareness about renewable energy technologies (Hameer and Ejigu 2020). Hence, addressing these obstacles is important (Belay Kassa 2019) because renewable energy expansion can diminish carbon emissions and stimulate sustainable economic expansion in Ethiopia (Adinew 2020).…”