Energy in
Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
is an
industry lacking in natural resources, though it has plenty of potential.
Eritrea's final consumption of electricity is 33 kilotonne of oil equivalent (ktoe).
Electricity
In 2019, some
off-the-grid community systems rely on a combination of
solar power, diesel generators and
grid batteries
A battery storage power station is a type of energy storage power station that uses a group of batteries to store electrical energy. Battery storage is the fastest responding dispatchable source of power on electric grids, and it is used to stab ...
.
Renewable energy
Eritrea is developing building its
sustainable energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...
capacity from such sources as wind and solar.
Development of renewable energy sources helps give the country access to reliable energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The government of Eritrea built a wind energy pilot project in the city of Assab in the Southern Red Sea region in 2010 with the help of the
United Nations Development Programme. The wind farm has a capacity of 750 kilowatts.
It also installed six small stand-alone decentralized wind turbines in the villages of
Beilul, Berasole,
Dekemhare, Edi, Gahro, and
Rahayta
Rahayta, also spelled Rahaita or Raheita ( ar, راهيتا), is a town in the Southern Red Sea region of Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in t ...
.
Eritrea has two hybrid mini-grids (solar-diesel) with a total capacity of 2.25 MW. One is in the town of
Areza
Areza ( ti, ዓረዛ) is a town in the Debub (Southern) region of Eritrea. It is the capital of the Areza Subregion. It lies to the west of Mendefera. The area is primarily agricultural and contains 20 ''kebabis'' (residential areas).
Histor ...
with a production capacity of 1.25 MW; another is in Maidma with a production capacity of 1 MW.
Both use photovoltaic solar panels connected to lithium batteries.
References
{{Africa topic, Energy in