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“EVEN IF THE RESOURCES EXIST, BUILDING AN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT DELIVERS POWER TO HOMES AND BUSINESSES RELIABLY IS A CHALLENGE”Reliable electricity supply brings light and heat to homes and businesses, powers machinery, and enables hospitals and schools to function effectively. In a continent as large as Africa, with many countries and political regimes, dispersed populations, variable transport infrastructure and a wide range of climates and terrains, generating and distributing power effectively is a challenge.Hydropower plays a key role in sustainable and environmentally friendly power generation from regenerative energies. Within the global energy mix, hydropower is one of the lowest greenhouse gas emitters and does not use up natural resources. In 2015, the World Energy Council has shown that countries where the share of hydropower in electricity production is higher than average, generally have lower CO2 emissions per generated kWh of electricity. The World Bank recently stated that today, hydropower reduces annual global emissions by some 2.8 billion tons of CO2 equivalent every year.On a global level, the majority of the renewable energy produced today already comes from hydropower. It is often a precursor to economic growth and social development, which relieves poverty. Hydropower plants could therefore be key to a long-lasting, reliable power supply which is one of the most crucial factors in achieving the climate goals. But up to now, less than 10 per cent of Africa’s potential hydropower generation capacity of an estimated 400 GW has been exploited. The potential hydropower capacity in Europe and Africa is similar but Europe has an installed capacity of 218 GW.Some African countries can rely on hydropower for nearly all their power requirements, some need to import almost all their electricity from outside their borders. Some countries have plentiful oil and gas reserves, some have none. And even if the resources exist, building an infrastructure that delivers power to homes and businesses reliably is a challenge. And 645 million Africans have no access to electricity at all. Energy production and population are far from proportionality.Pictured: Pumped-storage power plant Ingula is the largest of its kind in Africa.4%Africa produces 4% of the world’s total energy, but is home to 13% of the global populationSUSTAINABLE ENERGY 043