The energy system of West Africa is facing serious interrelated challenges of energy access, energy security and climate change adaptation and mitigation. Furthermore, during the last years the ECOWAS Region has gone through an energy crisis that hampers social and economic development, and affects particularly low-income population groups. To address these multiple challenges, ECOWAS has taken action to adopt and implement a Renewable Energy Policy and an Energy Efficiency Policy in 2012.
The ECOWAS Renewable Energy Policy aims to ensure increased use of renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, small-scale hydro and bioenergy for grid electricity supply and for the provision of access to energy services in rural areas. The policy scenario will complement other important conventional sources for power production (e.g. large hydro and natural gas). The policy primarily focuses on the electricity sector, but also considers some additional issues regarding the use of heat in the domestic energy sector. The specific objective of the renewable energy policy is to increase the share of renewable
energy in the region’s overall electricity mix to 10% in 2020 and 19% in 2030. Including large Hydro, the share would reach 35% in 2020 and 48% in 2030. Around 25% of the rural ECOWAS population will be served by Mini-Grids and standalone systems by 2030.
The ECOWAS Energy Efficiency Policy aims to implement measures that free 2,000 MW of power generation capacity and in the long term, more than double the annual improvement in energy efficiency, so as to attain levels comparable to those of world leaders.
To achieve Regional Development through the expressed vision and goals, it is essential to define a starting point, which will serve as a point of reference when assessing the effect of polices, practices or actions at regional or local level. A fundamental question would, then be: Where do we stand now, and how can we meet our vision? The Action Agenda, while providing a snapshot of the energy situation in a given country, provides the strategy that will serves as an umbrella plan for national energy sector development across SE4ALL’s objectives of energy access, renewables and energy efficiency until 2030. Once an Action Agenda is politically adopted, it becomes the national implementation framework under which sectoral policies are elaborated. The Action Agendas and the supporting Action Plans for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in all ECOWAS Member States, provide information on a coordinated regional route for development, taking into account each country’s possibilities and ambitions.
