The Rise Of Renewable Energy In Africa & The Middle East By Anna Bechtel

Journal Information Parts of Africa and the Middle East have been looking to transition to renewable energy. The parts have a lot of potential to run on renewable energy. Lack of fossil fuel resources, increasing population, and economic reasons are reasons behind the transition. Cost Politics/Space Reliability

Background – Journal 1 Jordan has been seeing how much transitioning wind energy will cost them. The law “Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency #13,” passed in 2012 was passed to help set up a successful renewable energy transition. The country has a lot of potential for wind energy. But people are concerned about the cost. Researchers are using several models to determine the overall cost of turbines and what they would do to the economy.

Background – Journal 2 South Africa is interested in transitioning to renewable energy as well. Previously powered by the company Eksom during apartheid. In 2009, the current president promised to reduce the country’s carbon footprint at the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit. However, parts of South Africa are reeling from the post-apartheid world, and there are now more homes to power. They are trying to divide the country into zones divided by status, to focus of the infrastructure and diversify energy producers. This has caused some conflicts to resurface.

Background – Journal 3 South Africa has a lot of potential to run on renewable energy, particularly wind energy because of their high interest. Since wind tends to vary, there are concerns with its reliability, and there’s an interest in mapping the resource. Two attempts have been made but there were either mistakes in findings or the results were not published. The third map was done as a part of the project “Wind Atlas for South Africa,” conducted by the South African National Development Institute.

Processes – 1 In order to find the results, scientists used spreadsheets and different formulas to figure out how much wind power would cost. Finding out how much it would cost to manufacture, maintain, and invest, in wind turbines. This was done at five locations with eight different turbines. Researchers were looking for wind frequency, average wind speed, the capacity factor of each turbine, and the average cost of each model in each location.

Processes – 2 South Africa was divided into zones that were based off of capital and political background. Used to focus on the space’s infrastructure. However, this has caused tensions to resurface. A “free zone,” or a place where people of different backgrounds can co-exist, albeit uneasily. A group called REI4P, Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, is using the zones to find potential places for renewable energy.

Processes – 3 The Modern-Era Retrospective for Research and Analysis data was used for the project. It was used because it has data listed at a time stamp of an hour. The variables looked at were friction velocity, height, and roughness. These were used to help predict wind speed. One of the difficulties of this experiment was related to the area of a testing space. Using a large grid for average results could potentially be a misrepresentation for a smaller grid. The researchers decided to focus on characterizing wind’s reliability as a resource by using time variations.

Results - 1 After testing eight turbine models in five separate locations, the results were varied. Average wind speed ranged from 2.5 to 6.5 m/s, the highest recorded was 7 m/s. All five locations got turbines to work and had potential to for wind energy. The location Amman had the highest monthly wind speed. The location D.alla had the highest wind frequency percentage. The town R.monif had all eight turbines working the best. Deemed the best possible location for wind power.

Results - 2 The zones have decreased the influence local governments would have on projects. Now, the people involved tend to vary with projects. This causes areas to not realize their potential and the economy to take major hits. There were problems with development in the past. The current experiment has lead to an increase in gender- based violence, drug use, and inflation. People believe that REI4P has caused an increase in corporate projects, international companies to control one- third of renewable energy projects, and that it is causing an “energy apartheid.”

Results - 3 The southwest had the highest wind speeds where the northeast had the lowest. The three regions deemed to be the most reliable were, Kenya: having available power 50 percent of time, central Tanzania: with power available between 33 and 50 percent of time, and southwest South Africa: between 25 and 33 percent. Wind density is better at higher altitudes where turbulence can’t distract it.

Conclusions Renewable energy is possible for both locations in the Middle East and Africa, but there are reasons why they aren’t currently powered by it. Even though these countries have potential, only certain parts were deemed acceptable to be powered by renewable energy, or were able to start projects being done. There have to be a lot of tests done before an area can transition to renewable energy.

Bibliography Dalabeeh, A. [cited 8 March 2017.] “Techno-Economic Analysis of Wind Power Generation for Selected Locations in Jordan.” Renewable Energy 101: 1369-1378. DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2016.10.003. Fant, C. Gunturu, B. Schlosser, A. [cited 8 March 2017.] “Characterizing Wind Power Resource Reliability in Southern Africa.” Applied Energy 161: 565-573. DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2015.08.069. McEwan, C. [cited 8 March 2017.] “Spatial Processes and Policies of Renewable Energy Transition: Land, Zones, and Frictions in South Africa.” Political Geography 56: 1-12. DOI: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2016.10.001.