DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/ijred.2023.52563

Unlocking Africa’s solar and wind energy potential: A panel data analysis on the determinants of the production of electricity through solar and wind energy

Graduate School of International Studies, Seoul National University, South Korea

Received: 18 Feb 2023; Revised: 20 Aug 2023; Accepted: 21 Sep 2023; Available online: 1 Oct 2023; Published: 1 Nov 2023.
Editor(s): H Hadiyanto
Open Access Copyright (c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Centre of Biomass and Renewable Energy (CBIORE)
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Citation Format:
Abstract

With growing global concerns about and attention drawn to climate change, there is a pressing need to transition towards sustainable practices to live more harmoniously with the environment. To mitigate future climate changes, many support and pursue the uptake of renewable energy to slowly shift to a more electricity powered world. Africa, richly endowed with the potential of solar and wind, stands at a pivotal point with the opportunity to develop through electricity generated by renewable. Therefore, this research delves into the complexity of 25 factors influencing the production of solar and wind-powered electricity within the continent. Through a panel data analysis conducted for the years of 2010 till 2019, the study identifies several determinants to have positive and negative effects. Results highlight the intertwined nature of regional challenges and opportunities, emphasizing that political stability, socio-economic dynamics, sound national strategies, and environmental and international commitments play pivotal roles in determining the trajectory of solar and wind energy integration in Africa’s electricity mix. Notably the study underscores that a uniform approach across Africa is insufficient, instead tailored national and foreign strategies based on regional specifics found within this study are imperative for maximizing renewable energy adoption. 

Fulltext View|Download
Keywords: Renewable; Solar & Wind Energy; African continent; Renewable energy development; Africa

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Original Research Article
Language : EN
Recent articles
Evaluating the role of operating temperature and residence time in the torrefaction of betel nutshells for solid fuel production Assessing the feasibility of gray, blue, and green ammonia productions in Indonesia: A techno-economic and environmental perspective Improving FTO/ZnO/In2S3/CuInS2/Mo solar cell efficiency by optimizing thickness and carrier concentrations of ZnO, In2S3 and CuInS2 thin films using Silvaco-Atlas Software Transition metal-based materials and their catalytic influence on MgH2 hydrogen storage: A review Retraction Notice to Control of Bidirectional DC-DC Converter for Micro-Energy Grid’s DC Feeders' Power Flow Application, IJRED 11(2), 533-546 More recent articles
Most cited articles
Kinetic and Enhancement of Biogas Production For The Purpose of Renewable Fuel Generation by Co-digestion of Cow Manure and Corn Straw in A Pilot Scale CSTR System Tax Incentive Policy for Geothermal Development: A Comparative Analysis in ASEAN Effects of turbulence models and grid densities on computational accuracy of flows over a vertical axis wind turbine Incorporating Root Crops under Agro-Forestry as the Newly Potential Source of Food, Feed and Renewable Energy Thermodynamic Study of Palm Kernel Shell Gasification for Aggregate Heating in an Asphalt Mixing Plant More cited articles
  1. Abdullah, S., & Jeanty, P.W. (2011). Willingness to pay for renewable energy: Evidence from a contingent valuation survey in Kenya. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 15(6), 2974-2983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2011.03.016
  2. Adebayo, T.S., Akadiri, S.S., Uhunamure, S.E., Altuntas, M., & Shale, K. (2022). Does political stability contribute to environmental sustainability? Evidence from the most pollitically stable economies. Heliyon, 8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12479
  3. Adenle, A.A. (2020). Assessment of solar energy technologies in Africa-opportunities and challenges in meeting the 2030 agenda and sustainable development goals. Energy Policy, 137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111180
  4. Aguirre, M., & Ibikunle, G. (2014). Determinants of renewable energy growth: A global sample analysis. Energy Policy, 69, 374-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2014.02.036
  5. Akintande, O.J., Olubusoye, O.E., Adenikinju, A.F., & Olanrewaju, B.T. (2020). Modeling the determinants of renewable energy consumption: Evidence from the five most populous nations in Africa. Energy, 206, 117992. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.117992
  6. Akinyemi, O., Efobi, U., Asongu, S., & Osabuohien, E.S. (2019). Renewable energy, trade performance and the conditional role of finance and institutional capacity of Sub-Sahara African countries. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3400247
  7. Aleman, J.C., Jarzyna, M.A., & Staver, A.C. (2017). Forest extent and deforestation in tropical Africa since 1900. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2(1), 26-33. https://doi.org/10.1038/j.renene.2021.07.021
  8. Alemzero, D., Acheampon, T., & Huaping, S. (2021). Prospects of wind energy deployment in Africa: Technical and economic analysis. Renewable Energy,179,652-666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.07.021
  9. Amoah, A., Asiama, R.H., Korle, K., & Kwablah, E. (2022). Corruption: Is it a Bane to renewable energy consumption in Africa? Energy Policy, 163, 112854. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2022.112854
  10. Asongu, S., & Odhiambo, N. (2021). Governance and renewable energy consumption in sub-Saharan Africa. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.384750
  11. Banerjee. M., Prasad, R., Rehman, I.H., & Gill, B. (2016). Induction stoves as an option for clean cooking in rural India. Energy Policy, 88, 159-167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.10.021
  12. Barbier, E.B., & Burgess, J.C. (2020). Sustainability and development after COVID-19. World Development, 135, 105082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105082
  13. Ben Aissa, M.S., Ben Jebli, M., & Ben Youssef, S. (2014). Output, renewable energy consumption and trade in Africa. Energy Policy, 66, 11-18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.11.023
  14. Bhandari, R., & Pandit, S. (2018). Electricity as a cooking means in Nepal – a modelling tool approach. Sustainability, 10(8), 2841. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10082841
  15. Boamah, F. (2020). Desirable or debatable? Putting Africa’s decentralised solar energy future in context. Energy Research & Social Science, 62. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2019.101390
  16. Bourcet, C. (2020). Empirical determinants of Renewable Energy Deployment: A Systematic Literature Review. Energy Economics, 85, 104563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2019.104563
  17. Boute, A. (2020). Regulatory stability and renewable energy investment: The case of Kazakhstan. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.109673
  18. Cadoret, I., & Padovano, F. (2016). The political drivers of renewable energies policies. Energy Economics, 56, 261-269. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2016.03.003
  19. Cima, E. (2018). Promoting renewable energy through ftas? The legal implications of a new generation of trade agreements. Journal of World Trade, 52 (4), 663-695. https://doi.org/10.54648/trad2018029
  20. Collier, P. (2007) The Bottom Billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it. Oxford University Press
  21. Dent, C.M. (2021). Trade, climate and energy: A new study on Climate action through free trade agreements. Energies, 14(14), 4363. https://doi.org/103390/en14144363
  22. Dogan, E., Chishti, M.Z., Alavijeh, N.K., Tzeremes, P. (2022). The roles of technology and Kyoto Protocol in energy transition towards COP26 targets: Evidence from the novel GMM-PVAR approach for G-7 countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121756
  23. Elliot, D., & Cook. T. (2018). Renewable Energy: From Europe to Africa, Springer Nature, Chapter 3. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74787-3
  24. Elsner, P. (2019). Continental-scale assessment of the African Offshore Wind Energy Potential: Spatial analysis of an under-appreciated Renewable Energy Resource. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,104, 394-407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2019.01.034
  25. Ergun, S. J., Owusu, P.A., & Rivas, M.F. (2019). Determinants of renewable energy consumption in Africa, Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 26(15), 15390-15405. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-04567-7
  26. ESMAP (2020). Global Photovoltaic Power Potential by Country. Washington. World Bank
  27. Evans, A., Strezov, V., & Evans, T.J. (2009). Assessment of sustainability indicators for renewable energy technologies. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 13, 5, 1082-1088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2008.03.008
  28. Fabrizio, K.R. (2012). The effect of regulatory uncertainty on investment: Evidence from renewable energy generation. The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 29(4), 765-798. https://doi.org/10.1093/jleo/ews007
  29. Gnansounou, E. (2008). Assessing the energy vulnerability: Case of industrialised countries. Energy Policy, 36(10), 3734-3744. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.07004
  30. Gould, C.F., Schlesinger, S.B., Molina, E., Bejarno, M.L., Valarezo, A., & Jack, D.W. (2020). Household fuel mixes in peri-urban and rural Ecuador: Explaining the context of LPG, patterns of continued firewood use, and the challenges of induction cooking. Energy Policy, 136, 111053. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111053
  31. Gyanfi, S., Modjinou, M., & Djordjevic, S. (2015). Improving electricity supply security in Ghana – The potential of renewable energy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 43, 1035-1045. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2014.11.102
  32. Hafner, M., Tagliapietra, S., & Strasser, L.D. (2018). Energy in Africa: Challenges and opportunities. Springer Open
  33. Hao, F., & Shao, W. (2021). What really drives the deployment of renewable energy? A global assessment of 118 countries. Energy Research & Social Science, 72, 101880. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101880
  34. Huber, S.T., & Steininger, K.W. (2022). Critical sustainability issues in the production of wind and solar electricity generation as well as storage facilities and possible solutions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130720
  35. Janosi, I.M., Medjdoub, K., & Vincze, M. (2021). Combined wind-solar electricity production potential over north-western Africa. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111558
  36. Jurasz, J., Canales, F.A., Kies, A., Guezgouz, M., & Beluco, A. (2020). A review on the complementarity of renewable energy sources: Concept, metrics, application and future research direction. Solar Energy, 195, 703-724. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2019.11.087
  37. Kao, M., Mokeke, S., Mothala, M., & Thamae, L. Z. (2021). Meeting electricity demand and generating revenue from production of solar and wind energy. 2021 International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Energy Technologies (ICECET), 1-6, https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECET52533.2021.9698494
  38. Khavari, B., Ramirez, C., Jeuland, M., & Nerini, F.F. (2023). A geospatial approach to understanding clean cooking challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. Nature Sustainability, 6, 447–457. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-01039-8
  39. Koengkan, M., Fuinhas, J.A., Kazemzadeh, E., Alavijeh, N.K., & de Araujo, S.J. (2022). The impact of renewable energy policies on deaths from outdoor and indoor air pollution: Empirical evidence from Latin American and Caribbean countries. Energy, 245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2022.123209
  40. Lee, T. (2019). Financial investment for the development of Renewable Energy Capacity. Energy & Environment, 32(6), 1103-1116. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305x19882403
  41. Levenda, A.M., Behrsin, I., & Disano, F. (2021). Renewable energy for whom? A global systematic review of the environmental justice implications of renewable energy technologies. Energy Research & Social Science, 71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101837
  42. Luderer, G., Madeddu, S., Merfort, L., Ueckerdt, F., Pehl, M., Pietzcker, R., Rottoli, M., Schreyer, F., Bauer, N., Baumstark, L., Bertram, C., Dirnaichner, A., Humpenoder, F., Levesque, A., Popp, A., Rodrigues, R., Strefler, J., & Kriegler, E. (2022). Impact of declining renewable energy costs on electrification in low-emission scenarios. Nature Energy, 7, 32-42. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-021-00937-z
  43. MacLean, L.M. & Brass, J.N. (2015). Foreign aid, NGOs and the private sector: New forms of hybridity in renewable energy provision in Kenya and Uganda. Africa Today, 62(1), 57. https://doi.org/10.2979/africatoday.62.1.57
  44. Maler, K.G. (2011). Economic Growth and the Environment. Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, 277-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-12-226865-2/00084-5
  45. Marques, A.C., Fuinhas, J.A., & Manso, J.P. (2010). A quantile approach to identify factors promoting renewable energy in European countries. Environmental and Resource Economics, 49(3), 351-366. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10640-010-9436-8
  46. Mentis, D., Herman, S., Howells, M., Welsch, M., & Sival, S.H. (2015). Assessing the technical wind energy potential in Africa a GIS-based approach. Renewable Energy, 83, 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.03.072
  47. Miyamoto, M., & Takeuchi, K. (2019). Climate agreement and technology diffusion: Impact of the Kyoto Protocol on international patent applications for renewable energy technologies. Energy Policy, 129, 1331-1338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.02.053
  48. Mohammed, Y.S., Mustafa, M.W., & Bashir, N. (2013). Status of renewable energy consumption and developmental challenges in Sub-Sahara Africa. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 27, 453-463. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.06.044
  49. Nyasapoh, M.A., Elorm, M.D., & Derkyi, N.S.A. (2022). The role of renewable energies in sustainable development of Ghana. Scientific African, 16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01199
  50. Nyiwul, L. (2017). Economic performance, environmental concerns, and renewable energy consumption: Drivers of renewable energy development in Sub-Sahara Africa. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, 19(2), 437-450. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10098-016-1229-5
  51. Ostergaard, P.A., Duic, N., Noorollahi, Y., Mikulcic, H., & Kalogirou, S. (2020). Sustainable development using renewable energy technology. Renewable Energy, 146, 2430-2437. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.08.094
  52. Pan, X., Dossou, T.A.M., Berhe, M.W., & Kambaye, E.N. (2022). Towards efforts to promote renewable energy development in Africa: Does governance quality matter? Energy & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1177/0958305X221120259
  53. Pata, U.K., Yilanci, V., Hussain, B., & Naqvi, S.A.A. (2022). Analyzing the role of income inequality and political stability in environmental degradation: Evidence from South Asia. Gondwana Research, 107, 13-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2022.02.009
  54. Paudel, J., Sharifi, A., Khan, G.D. (2023). What are the drivers of sustainable energy transition? Insights from an empirical analysis of household preferences for electric induction cooking in Nepal. Journal of Cleaner Production, 417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.138021
  55. Pfeiffer, B., & Mulder, P. (2013). Explaining the diffusion of renewable energy technology in developing countries. Energy Economics, 40, 285-296. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2013.07.005
  56. Popp, D., Hascic, I., & Medhi, N. (2011). Technology and the diffusion of renewable energy. Energy Economics, 33(4), 648-662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2010.08.007
  57. Raihan, A., & Tuspekova, A. (2022). Toward a sustainable environment: Nexus between economic growth, renewable energy use, forested area, and carbon emissions in Malaysia. Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advaances, 15. https://doi.org.10.1016/j.rcradv.2022.200096
  58. Romano, A., & Scandurra, G. (2014). Investments in renewable energy sources in OPEC members. Advances in Methodology and Statistics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.51936/jjuz8754
  59. Rosenthal, J., Quinn, A., Grieshop, A.P., Pillarisetti, A., & Glass, R.I. (2018). Clean cooking and the SDGS: Integrated analytical approaches to guide energy interventions for health and environment goals. Energy for Sustainable Development, 42, 152-159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2017.11.003
  60. Sawadogo, W., Reboita, M.S., Faye, A., da Rocha, R.P., Odoulami, R.C., Olusefun, C.F., Adeniyi, M.O., Aboidun, B.J., Sylla, M.B., Diallo, I., Coppola, E., & Giorgi, F. (2020). Current and future potential of solar and wind energy over Africa using the regcm4 CORDEX-core ensemble. Climate Dynamics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-020-05377-1
  61. Schmidheiny, K. (2021). Short Guides to Microeconometrics: Panel Data: Fixed and Random Effects. University of Basel
  62. Stern, D.I. (2018). The Environmental Kuznets Curve. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.09278-2
  63. Waheed, R., Chang, D., Sarwar, S., & Chen, W. (2018). Forest, agriculture, renewable energy and CO2 emission. Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 4231-4238. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.287
  64. Wang, Q., Guo, J., & Dong, Z. (2021). The positive impact of Official Development Assistance (ODA) on renewable energy development: Evidence from 34 sub-saharan africa countries. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 28, 532-542. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.06.007
  65. Whittaker, S. (2020). Exploring Africa’s Untapped Wind Potential. International Finance Corporation
  66. Zahno, M., Michaeloewa, K., Dasgupta, P., & Sachedva, I. (2020). Health awareness and the transition towards clean cooking fuels: Evidence from Rajasthan. PLOS ONE, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0231931

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update: 2024-11-21 04:26:06

No citation recorded.