World Bank-backed Project To Study Wind Energy Potential In African Countries
A global program backed by the World Bank aimed at studying and determining renewable energy potential across the world will now focus on three African countries.
Under the Energy Sector Management Assessment Program (ESMAP), DNV GL is working to determine wind energy potential in Zambia, Tanzania, and the Maldives. The first phase of the project — which begun in June, 2014, and finished earlier this year — included preliminary investigation of wind flow to build an initial wind energy potential atlas. DNV will also set up workshops to train professionals to interpret the wind atlas. Workshops will also be held for government officials, decision makers, and other stockholders.
In the second phase, DNV will train professionals to set up and maintain wind masts for collecting wind potential data over a period of two years. The final phase will include creating a redefined and validated meso-micro wind atlas in the three countries, and combining the collected data with real-life figures.
Several regional and national projects under ESMAP have been implemented in developing and least developed countries around the world, yielding encouraging results. Some of the success stories attributed to work done under the ESMAP include rural electrification in African countries and an increase in transmission capacity in an Indian state to facilitate increased use of renewable energy.
Another important and highly successful project completed under ESMAP was the study of solar concentrated power potential in Morocco. The results of the project led to the construction of one of the largest concentrated solar power projects in the world. The power plant at Ouarzazate is expected to have an installed capacity of 2 GW by 2020.
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Only three countries, and the Maldives are small islands. Donor countries should pony up to get all of Africa surveyed. Well, not the middle of the Sahara, which we know already is very sunny and very remote.
Well three countries is a start, but yes all the countries, places around the world should be looked at for their potential for all RE systems.
We may be in for surprises what the potential is on a world basis.
Off topic, just read a story on market watch about how big oil robbed their investors of a great investment chance =RE systems.
Yeah. What the heck happened to BP standing for “Beyond Petroleum?”
I firmly believe it was because of Dick Cheney and his “energy task force,” i.e., a wish list of old, outdated oil and coal companies for “evil government” to “get out of the way.”
Well like I stated before: I think Re is like a train, very small in the distance, betting bigger as it get closer and if you are on the tracks when it arrived you get run over!
I am taking bets fossil fuels will go belly up by 2015. Did you notice how many coal mines were closed during the last 12 months? and how many coal mining operations went bankrupted?