Renewables for Energy Access and Sustainable Development in East Africa

This short open access book investigates the role of renewable energy in East Africa to provide policy-relevant inputs for the achievement of a cost-effective electrification process in the region. For each country, the authors review the current situation in the domestic power sector, adopt a GIS-based approach to plot renewable energy resources potential, and review currently planned projects and projects under development, as well as the key domestic renewables regulations. Based on such information, least-cost 100% electrification scenarios by 2030 are then modelled and comparative results over the required capacity additions and investment are reported and discussed. The authors also inquire into some of the key technological, economic, policy, cooperation, and financing challenges to the development of a portfolio of renewables to promote energy access in a sustainable way, including a discussion of the challenges and opportunities that might stem from the interaction betweenlocal RE potential and natural gas resources currently under development in the region. To conclude, policy recommendations based on the book’s results and targeted at international cooperation and development institutions, local policymakers, and private stakeholders in the region are elaborated.

Manfred Hafner is the Coordinator of the Future Energy Program at FEEM. He is Professor of International Energy Studies, teaching at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS Europe) and at the SciencesPo Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA). He also teaches in many Executive Education Master and MBA courses worldwide. He has more than 30 years of experience in consulting on international energy issues for Governments, international organizations and industry. He is/was a member of several high level intergovernmental cooperation networks and councils. He has a long track record of interdisciplinary research coordination. He holds several Master degrees: in Engineering from the Technical University of Munich; in Economics and Business from the IFP-School, the University of Paris-2 Pantheon-Assas and the University of Bourgogne; in Energy Policy and Management from the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his PhD in Energy Studies with “summa cum laude” at Mines ParisTech (Ecole des Mines de Paris).

Simone Tagliapietra is Senior Researcher at the Future Energy Program of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. He is Adjunct Professor of Global Energy Fundamentals at The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS Europe) and Research Fellow at Bruegel, the European economic think-tank. He is also Lecturer at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Senior Associate Research Fellow at the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale and Non-resident Fellow at the Payne Institute of the Colorado School of Mines. He is an expert in international energy and climate issues, with a record of numerous publications covering the international energy markets, the European energy and climate policy and the Euro-Mediterranean energy relations He obtained his PhD in International Relations at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.

Giacomo Falchetta is a Researcher at the Future Energy Program of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei, where he carries out applied research on the dynamics of access to electricity and on the power-climate nexus in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on the use of remotely-sensed data. He is also a PhD candidate at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, and he has been a Guest Research Scholar at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). He holds an MSc. in Environmental Economics and Climate Change from the London School of Economics.

Giovanni Occhiali is an Overseas Development Institute Fellow at the National Revenue Authority of Sierra Leone. Previously, he worked as a Researcher at the Future Energy Program of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Birmingham, a MSc. in Development Economics from SOAS University of London, and a BSc. in Economics and Political Science from the University of Bologna.