Burkina Faso's national energy policy
Burkina Faso's national energy policy is designed to address the significant energy challenges faced by this landlocked country, which has one of the lowest energy access rates in the world. With a population of approximately 22 million and a reliance on subsistence agriculture, the country primarily depends on biomass, which accounts for 84% of energy consumption. However, this reliance has led to environmental concerns, including deforestation, as biomass consumption grows annually. The policy aims to diversify energy sources, emphasizing the potential for renewable energy development, particularly solar power, given the country's abundant sunshine.
Additionally, the government recognizes the need to improve electricity access, as only 19.5% of the population had electricity access in 2022, with rural areas severely underserved. The national electricity company, Sonabel, is tasked with production and distribution, but challenges such as political instability, economic conflict, and a lack of investment hinder progress. The energy policy also explores biodiesel as a sustainable option, utilizing the jatropha plant, which is suitable for non-arable land. Overall, Burkina Faso's energy policy seeks to enhance energy security while promoting economic and social development in a context of limited resources and external dependencies.
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Burkina Faso's national energy policy
Official Name: Burkina Faso.
Summary: Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in western Africa, with one of the poorest populations in the world and limited natural resources. With energy sources that are susceptible to climate change and fluctuating prices, the government has developed a national energy policy to diversify its energy sources.
As one of the poorest countries in the world, approximately 80 percent of Burkina Faso’s population relies on subsistence agriculture. Burkina Faso’s population, which was about twenty-two million in 2022, is expected to double by about 2050. With very few industries and services, fossil fuel use is low, and the country depends primarily on biomass as an energy source. Biomass provides 84 percent of the energy consumed, at 2.412 million tons of oil equivalent (toe). The growth rate for biomass consumption is around 2.2 percent per year. Consumption of biomass in the form of fuel wood and charcoal has resulted in steady deforestation, with a loss in forest acreage of about 9 to 34 square miles (15 to 55 square kilometers) per year. While there has been increased fossil fuel consumption, with imported petroleum making up the second-highest amount of total energy consumed, it is expected that biomass dependence will continue, given the high levels of poverty. In 2022 the country consumed thirty-six thousand barrels of petroleum and other liquids a day. All of this fuel was imported.
According to the country’s Ministry for Energy and Mines, imported thermal hydrocarbon sources make up approximately 10 percent of total energy consumed. The transportation sector is the greatest consumer of imported petroleum products (about 75 percent), followed by the service sector and the industrial sector. Burkina Faso also has agreements with neighboring countries to import hydroelectricity, accounting for approximately 15 percent of the country’s total energy consumption. Renewable energy sources are minimal, with about 16 percent of Burkina Faso’s energy consumption covered by solar photovoltaic systems in 2022.
Per capita electricity consumption is low; the small number of homes with electricity (19.5 percent in 2022) account for 33 percent of the total amount consumed. Just 3 percent of the rural population has electricity. Industry and government administration are the second- and third-highest consumers of electricity. Sonabel is the National Electricity Company of Burkina Faso, the state energy provider. Sonabel is responsible for the production, transportation, and distribution of electricity throughout the country.
A loan from the African Development Bank aimed to improve electricity access for 800,000 by 2011. The project, called the Electricity Infrastructure Strengthening and Rural Electrification Project, was intended to help to meet the demand of a population growing at 10 percent annually by connecting Burkina Faso’s electrical grid to those of Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, which, as coastal countries, have easier access to sources of electricity and can increase supply to the landlocked country. However, the gains made by the project were modest; between the start of the project and 2013, the percentage of the population with access to electricity increased only 4 percent, from 10 percent to 14. In 2013 the World Bank gave Burkina Faso a $50 million loan to further improve electricity access, with plans including the construction of two power stations in the remote, but rapidly developing, cities of FadaN’gourma and Ouahigouya.
The country faces issues of population migration to other countries, political and economic conflict in neighboring countries, and the geographic barrier of being landlocked. Additional needs to attract investment include improving legal security for investments, increasing tax revenues, and establishing reliable banks. However, coups in January and September 2022 threw the nation into disarray. In keeping with policy, the United States suspended some assistance to the government of Burkina Faso. This included the $500 million Millennium Challenge Corporation compact, which was meant to improve energy reliability, cost-effectiveness, and access to spur economic development.
Renewable Energy Development
The government of Burkina Faso has introduced a national energy policy that emphasizes the need for economic and social development. While the policy identifies a range of potential energy sources, it promotes renewable energy as a means for reducing costs, increasing energy diversity, and improving efficiency. Burkina Faso has high potential for solar energy generation, with 2,500 to 3,500 hours of sunshine each year and an average production of 5.5 kilowatt-hours per square meter per day. Solar potential is greatest in the northern part of the country, and pilotbiodiesel projects have been occurring since the early 2000s. While still in the experimental stages, the use of biodiesel offers the potential to open a promising market. Burkina Faso is looking at the jatropha plant to blend with ordinary diesel, and hundreds of hectares have already been planted with it. Because the jatropha plant can be grown in areas where traditional agricultural is not viable, it is not expected to compete with food crops for land.
Bibliography
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