https://arab.news/bdg8e
Africa is on a quest to deliver universal energy access and advance green industrialization but it is still struggling to deliver reliable baseload electricity. Power outages and shortages cost Nigeria’s economy an estimated $26 billion annually and Ethiopia and Uganda routinely face blackouts as droughts reduce hydropower. Across the continent, expensive, polluting diesel generators are used to bridge the gaps, with Nigerian businesses, for example, spending about $22 billion on off-grid fuel each year. But there is a renewable energy technology that could go a long way toward meeting African demand: geothermal.
Most renewable energies are fickle. Solar, wind and hydropower can be generated only under certain conditions, meaning that disruptions are always a possibility. In Africa, where grid operators lack resources and infrastructure is brittle, such shocks could be crippling.
Geothermal energy avoids these issues by harnessing the Earth’s natural internal heat. The steam trapped in rock formations deep underground is released and used to drive turbines for electricity generation. Since radioactive decay constantly produces extreme heat in these reservoirs, geothermal energy can always be generated, making it an ideal candidate for supporting a reliable power supply.
