Assessment of renewable energy resources potential for large scale and standalone applications in Ethiopia

This study aims to determine the contribution of renewable energy to large scale and standalone application in Ethiopia. The assessment starts by determining the present energy system and the available potentials. Subsequently, the contribution of the available potentials for large scale and standalone applications are determined taking into account the present energy system. The present energy system shows a large variation between urban and rural consumption. Almost all rural households depend on traditional biomass-based energy for cooking, while about 90% of urban households use electricity for lighting. The current national energy consumption from petroleum and electricity only accounts for 7% of the total energy demand; implying the largest energy need for cooking. The current annual Ethiopian household׳s energy demand for cooking is ten times as large as the household use for cooking in western countries. About 90% of the energy is lost to the ambient air as a result of the inefficient conversion system during cooking. However, the country has an annual exploitable electric energy potential of 7.5PWh from solar energy, 4PWh from wind energy and 0.2PWh from hydroelectric energy. These renewable sources can supply enough energy to fulfill the demand; however, the energy carrier (electricity) is not appropriate for heating/cooking food, since cooking appliances on electricity are expensive in rural areas. While renewable energy sources can fulfill energy needs at a national scale, they are not at all suitable for fulfilling energy needs in rural areas except lighting and some elementary services. Therefore prevailing western approaches to renewable energy supply systems do not solve energy problems in developing countries. This shows the urgent need for addressing the energy demand for cooking.