This chapter examines the current status of energy in West Africa, the potential of renewable energy, and the challenges and barriers to energy transition. The construction of a 1,303 km 225 Kilovolt (kV) transmission line connecting the electricity grids of Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone (CLSG) has facilitated cross-border electricity trade and delivered affordable, renewable, and abundant electricity to approximately 2. A new study conducted by the CIREG project in which WASCAL is a scientific partner (Sterl et al. It combines information from existing databases,scientific papers,technical project descriptions,newspaper a ticles and tender documents for future project o yields higher dispatch factors for renewables. Here, we present a new model to investigate hydro–solar–wind complementarities across these scales.
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Can a smart management of hydropower help power West Africa?
A smart management of hydropower, combined with solar and wind energy, can provide the flexibility needed to power West Africa and at cheaper cost than using natural gas, according to a simulation model.
The database of the present and future hydro, solar and wind power projects in West Africa developed for this work is named the West African Renewable Power Database (WARPD). It combines information from existing databases, scientific papers, technical project descriptions, newspaper articles and tender documents for future projects.
What percentage of West Africa's electricity is generated by hydropower?
Hydropower provides 20% of West Africa's electricity with the remainder mostly generated from natural gas and oil 30, and thus currently accounts for nearly all of its RE. In a few countries, hydropower dominates the generation mix (Fig. 1a ).
Access to electricity is most challenging in the western part of SSA. Data from the World Bank indicates that, as of 2019, more than half of the population of West Africa (51.1%) lacks access to electricity . Further, rural areas, which are home to 49% of the total population of West Africa (WA), had an electrification rate of only 28% .