The African Development Bank (AfDB) says the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), in partnership with International Hydropower Association (IHA), will modernise Africa’s aging hydropower fleet.

SEFA recently approved a one-million-dollar grant for the mapping and evaluation of African hydropower facilities.

Hydropower accounts for 17 percent of the electricity generation in Africa, according to an International Energy Agency (IEA) report.

Africa is projected to experience increasing climate hazards for the remainder of the 21st century, and resilient hydropower can play a key role in allowing the continent to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), implement clean energy transitions, and adapt to climate change.

Children in the Central African Republic (CAR), Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, and Guinea Bissau are the most at risk of experiencing the worst and most life-threatening effects of climate change, a new study by the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has found.

‘Modern hydropower plays a key role for Africa’s energy transition, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and anchoring larger shares of Variable Renewable Energy sources’, Acting Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency at the AfDB, Daniel Schroth, said in a statement.

‘This transformative programme under SEFA’s Green Baseload component will specifically capitalise on the significant market opportunity for rehabilitation of Africa’s existing hydropower plants’.

AfDB’s SEFA, which provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency, aims to provide universal access to energy for Africans.

For his part, IHA’s Head of Research and Policy, Alex Campbell, said, ‘We are delighted to support the African Development Bank in this important and urgent project to modernise Africa’s hydropower fleet’.

Source: AfDB

Photo source: Ronald Vriesema