While access to energy remains a major concern in Africa, energy efficiency deserves to be put on the front burner — first, for it refers to the practice of utilising less energy to achieve the same result; and second, for its all-encompassing benefits to the energy challenges across the continent in the long run — it helps to solve the energy access problems for both individuals and businesses, boosts energy security, fuels economic growth, safeguards the planet’s natural resources and aids in the achievement of sustainable development goals; as Adam Fitzwilliam, Camco’s Regional Manager for East Africa observes that individuals and, more importantly, businesses in Sub-Saharan African countries are energy poor, often suffer from expensive, unreliable and polluting power supplies and may not have any energy access at all.
Fitzwilliam also postulates that improving energy efficiency to address the energy challenges of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa involves not only how to get power from the source of generation to the source of demand but also how to optimise both the use of this electricity and the power network that delivers it, with the latter being important because it prevents unnecessary over-build on the region’s power generation and transmission infrastructure, thereby freeing up funds for national non-energy priorities such as healthcare and poverty reduction.
It’s, therefore, safe to say that Africa cannot ultimately solve its energy access problems, improve its energy security, boost its economy, safeguard the environment, or contribute to sustainable development without improving its energy efficiency. Jamal Saghir, the former Director for Energy at the World Bank, describes this as an “important win-win” for Africa, given that if African countries must reduce poverty, then they must expand power access and generation in “climate-smart” ways. Saghir goes ahead to point out that Africa can save a lot of money through energy efficiency, especially when we take into account that the World Bank conducted a study tagged Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic in 2010 which revealed that reforming power utilities to reduce inefficiencies would save the continent US$3.3 billion a year whereas addressing the power problems and implementing regional trade will require spending US$41 billion per year.
In the article, “Energy Efficiency: An Investment in the Future” for The Electricity Hub, Policy Research Analyst, Ayodeji Stephen buttresses Saghir’s viewpoint. An energy-efficient economy, he writes, has huge benefits for the electricity sector. Stephen describes why: it benefits both the key players (the generation, transmission, and distribution sectors of the electricity value chain) and the consumers. With energy efficiency, there is minimal grid congestion and stress on the electricity grid because a lesser load of electricity on the grid at a time prevents power disruptions, Stephen further asserts.
However, in spite of its multiple benefits, Stephen bemoans the general apathy towards energy efficiency across the continent which has caused its measures to “remain in their infant stage.” The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in consonance with this assertion, states in “Module 2: The Energy Sector in Africa” of the Sustainable Energy Regulation and Policymaking Training Manual that energy efficiency in Africa is generally low, both at the industrial, transport and domestic level, adding that efficiency programmes are largely absent in most countries. They further establish that most of the energy efficiency initiatives in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania are largely donor-funded mainly by GEF, UNDP, REEEP, UNIDO, ADB and the World Bank.
Energy challenges in the West African region also deserve attention. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) aver that the lack of access to reliable electricity at an affordable price remains a key constraint to achieving broad-based economic development for the West African region. According to USAID, years of disjointed planning and execution of projects in the power sector, an increasing energy sector debt, an insufficient supply of reliable energy sources, an inexperienced regulatory framework, and unstable power grids have denied millions in the region of experiencing improved living standards. The ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE), in light of these harsh realities, developed the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy (EEEP) to address, among other concerns, the challenge of making the most efficient use of the region’s energy resources. According to the ECREEE, the ECOWAS energy efficiency policy framework will contribute to creating a favourable environment for private investments in energy efficiency and will spur industrial development and employment through the reduction of energy bills because increasing energy efficiency is an integral part of modernisation and greening of West African economies.
The development of the ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy (EEEP) has now brought about the establishment of one of the foremost energy companies in the West African country, Nigeria. Known as EnerixOne, this energy company works with licensed generation and distribution companies on the Nigerian grid to develop, finance and deploy optimal power supply solutions to discerning customers. Leveraging the founders’ experience of the importance of adequate and reliable power supply to industries, mobilizing/deploying finance for bankable (infrastructure) projects and how the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) — particularly the power grid — works, the vision of EnerixOne is to bridge power infrastructure deficit across Sub-Saharan Africa through partnerships meeting world-class standards. The company is well on its way to achieving this, in view of its early footprints in mobilising capital and technical
expertise to deliver power generation capacity available on the Nigerian power grid to customers in a reliable and efficient manner. Considering that the combination of experience across the leadership of the company (board and management) spans about a hundred years, it only makes sense that the company, founded by experienced energy professionals in Nigeria, begins its power projects in its home country. EnerixOne has thus far through its sister establishment begun executing power supply projects of 200MW in joint collaboration with Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) and Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC). With further projects slated with another disco, Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), EnerixOne is adequately armed to leave a lasting impact on Nigeria’s power landscape.
At EnerixOne, the energy experts at the helm of affairs are equipped with an advocate’s view of the Nigerian power sector and the relationships required to enhance grid supply to provide optimised supply, thereby reducing energy inefficiencies and poor access to energy plaguing businesses and individuals throughout the country. The unique approach of EnerixOne is choosing to focus investment on debottlenecking existing grid-based resources that are constrained, rather than building new generation, thus optimizing the cost of, and minimizing deleterious environmental impact. Jamal Saghir is right: Africa must expand power access and generation in “climate-smart” ways to reduce poverty; there may not be as many players as required at the moment, but EnerixOne is undoubtedly on track.