Somalia's indigenous energy sources

Official Name: Somali Republic.

Summary: Although Somalia may have indigenous energy sources and a clear potential for the exploitation of renewable energy sources, these are not currently exploited because of the prolonged civil war and continued political instability that have plagued the country since the late 1990s.

A discussion of the Somali energy sector cannot be separated from a discussion of the country’s political situation; its instability has generated a chronic state of civil war, hindering any possible progress. An independent country since 1960, the Somali Republic was the result of the union of the former colonies of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland. After independence, the country became a socialist state headed by Major General Muhammad Siad Barre. His regime collapsed in 1991 under the attack of rebel forces. Since then, the country has been prey to interclan warfare, and no central government has been able to recover the control of the entire nation. This prolonged and violent civil war has seriously damaged all productive sectors of Somali society, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians through violence and famine and destroying the nation’s infrastructure. Because of this widespread devastation, Somali institutions are unable to provide services for their citizens and, consequently, are unable to apply for international financial aid. American and United Nations peacekeeping operations have both failed to restore order.

Internal Strife

In 2004, the Transitional Federal Charter was approved as the basis for a future constitution, and the Somali National Reconciliation Conference elected a transitional president. A provisional constitution was approved in 2012, and a central government was consequently established. However, this political structure has been unable to extend its authority over the entire Somali territory and thus attract foreign and international investments. The constant internal strife has naturally had a negative impact on the country’s energy sector. Somalia has not had the chance to develop a productive hydrocarbon sector. Several explorations, carried out from colonial times through the twentieth century, concluded that the country had oil seeps. These were identified in the northern regions, where international companies such as Agip, Chevron, Amoco, and Phillips all held concessions following the positive outcome of the United Nations Development Programme’s hydrocarbon study in 1991. However, following the outbreak of the civil war, these companies stopped all operations. Other exploration activities in all parts of the region have run up against the fact that the country does not have a strong central government that can guarantee the safety of those involved in the operations.

For example, in 2001, the agreement between the transitional national government and the French company Total regarding offshore exploration in the stretch of the Indian Ocean off Somalia’s southern coast was practically invalidated by the opposition of several splinter groups. Somaliland, a region that seceded from Somalia in 1991 but is not officially recognized as a sovereign state, also signed agreements with British and Chinese oil companies in 2001, but no activities have been conducted.

Data from 2022 calculated that the country consumed 6,000 barrels of petroleum per day that year. In the late 1970s, the Iraqi government took part in the building of an oil refinery in Jasiira that operated at a capacity of 10,000 barrels per day. This refinery briefly allowed the country to be less dependent on foreign donors such as the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia for its petroleum consumption. However, the war between Iran and Iraq forced the country to import refined oil products again and rendered supplies erratic throughout the 1980s. Another oil refinery was completed in the early 1990s on the outskirts of the capital, Mogadishu, with the cooperation of the Romanian government; it was operated by the public company Iraqsoma Refinery Corporation. After a short period of operation, however, the civil war broke out and the refinery became inactive.

Impact of War

As for oil exploration, the development of the natural gas and electricity sectors was badly damaged by the civil war. Somalia has proven natural gas reserves of 5.663 billion cubic meters. Electrical infrastructure has been materially damaged by decades of bombings. The country’s installed electricity-generating capacity was 131 megawatts as of 2022. The company managing the generation and transmission of energy in Somalia is the Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica (ENEE).

The Somali energy sector also has underdeveloped potential in the field of renewable energy sources. Scientists have concluded that the Horn of Africa region, where Somalia is located, is one of the most favorable regions for the development of wind power to generate electricity. Although four wind turbines were included in Mogadishu's electrical grid before the civil war, internal strife hindered the development of additional wind projects. According to the International Trade Administration in 2024, Somalia had the potential for onshore wind power operations that could generate between 30,000 and 40,000 megawatts, as well as for solar power operations that could generate more than 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity.

Bibliography

Federal Research Division. Somalia: A Country Study. Washington, DC: Library of Congress, 1993.

Mohamed, Hamza. "The Expensive Luxury of Electricity in Somalia." Al Jazeera, 3 Apr. 2016, www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2016/03/expensive-luxury-electricity-somalia-160330104247782.html. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.

"Somalia." CIA World Factbook, 30 July 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/somalia. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.

"Somalia." International Energy Agency, 2024, www.iea.org/countries/somalia. Accessed 7 Aug. 2024.