A View from the World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi 2016

Dear AREA member,

A View from the World Future Energy Summit, Abu Dhabi 2016

Two weeks ago, I attended the World Future Energy Summit (WFES), the first global gathering of Renewable Energy (RE) stakeholders since December 2015 at COP 21 in Paris when 195 nations signed an agreement to fight climate change and mobilize resources towards a low-carbon future.  I talked to oil industry veterans who spoke of changing their careers and who clearly now saw, for the first time, the implications and possibilities of a future beyond untouchable and depleted fossil energy sources.

I would like to share impressions of three gatherings there, where Africa shone brightly.

The opening ceremony commenced with the awards of the Zayed Future Energy Prize 2016.  The individual prize for Lifetime Achievement was won by Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, former Prime Minister of Norway, who I met and congratulated. I was also delighted to be introduced to, and to congratulate, an AREA member, Mr Femi Oye of SMEFunds, one of whose companies, Green Energy Biofuels from Nigeria, was a finalist in the SME category.

The next day, I participated in two illuminating events.  The first was a roundtable discussion hosted by Masdar and Solektra concerning “Building a Brighter Africa; Partnerships Needed to Solve Africa’s Energy Crisis”.  Here I met Akon, the music star, and his colleagues Samba Bathily and Thione Niang, who co-founded www.akonlightingafrica.com; and I experienced a paradigm shift in my thinking as to how far and fast RE solutions could be accelerated across Africa by knowledge exchange across music, drama and mobile communication channels.  They have broken inter-generational communication barriers to reach and involve Africans, from heads of state right down to the “grass roots”; and rolling out across 14 countries in their first operational year they have set an unprecedented pace. 

Immediately after the roundtable discussion, I spoke on a panel which considered “Lessons from South Africa”, featuring that country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).  Answering the question “Can RE deliver at speed and scale?”, the results of the programme - which attracted 79 projects over 4 bid rounds and delivered approximately 6 gigawatts of power in four years, 100% financed by the private sector at a cost of USD $14bn of which 25% was foreign investment – speak for themselves.  This programme, an exemplary PPP executed skilfully and with speed, drove down the cost of electricity over successive bid iterations, overcame initial scepticism, created employment and addressed other community needs.  Crucially, all the projects were completed; it was not possible to “low ball”.

These two innovative examples from Africa; one off-grid and the other on-grid, demonstrate the way forward, using PPPs, private sector financing, and avoiding “White Elephants”.  Can and should AREA partner with these initiatives?

Warm regards,

Anthony O Ighodaro

Chair, AREA Steering Committee

PUBLISHED BY Anjan Kumar Samal

Member (Authorized)-:area

AFRICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY ALLIANCE.