Lesotho's energy dependency
Lesotho, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, faces significant energy dependency challenges, relying heavily on imports from neighboring South Africa and Mozambique to meet its electricity needs. Approximately half of the population lacks access to electricity, despite the country's potential for renewable energy sources such as hydropower and solar energy. The primary energy supply comes from the Muela hydroelectric plant, which contributes to most of the country's electricity generation, but imports still make up a considerable portion of consumption.
With no proven reserves of fossil fuels, Lesotho's energy landscape reflects a need for diversification and the development of alternative energy sources. The government, with support from the United Nations Development Programme, is exploring biogas and solar energy initiatives to improve rural electrification and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. Programs aimed at promoting renewable energy are in their infancy, yet they hold promise for enhancing energy security and sustainability for the population.
The nation also grapples with broader socio-economic issues, including high rates of poverty and unemployment, which complicate energy development efforts. Addressing these challenges could significantly improve the living standards for many Basotho while leveraging Lesotho's natural resources to build a more resilient energy future.
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Lesotho's energy dependency
Official Name: Kingdom of Lesotho.
Summary: An impoverished sub-Saharan African nation, Lesotho depends on Mozambique and South Africa for electricity, to which only 50 percent of the population has access.
Formerly Basutoland, Lesotho became independent from Britain in 1966. South Africa surrounds Lesotho, and the country has an average elevation of 8,268 feet (2,520 meters). The population, at more than 2 million in 2022, is generally impoverished, with the second-highest prevalence in the world (25 percent) of population carrying the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 2021 and nearly half lives under the poverty line. In 2023, the country had an unemployment rate of 16 percent. Political instability since independence has included one-party rule for more than two decades, the exile and return of King Moshoeshoe II as well as military rule in the 1990s, and election turmoil that led to intervention by Botswana and South Africa in 1998. Since then, relative stability has prevailed, with Letsie III as king, although party disputes persist. Lesotho’s principal industries include textiles, assembly of clothing, handicrafts, food and beverage manufacture, tourism, and construction.
Lesotho's domestic energy supply comes mainly from the Muela hydroplant, which has an installed capacity of 72 MW. The rest of demand is met by imports from South Africa and neighboring Mozambique. Electricity consumption in Lesotho stood at 829 million kilowatt-hours, with 430 million kilowatt-hours being imported. Lesotho has no proven reserves of oil or natural gas, and it imported just over 5,000 barrels of refined petroleum products per day in 2013.
The Environment and Energy program, under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), offers tools for sustainable management of natural resources, which could help reverse land degradation through conservation of biodiversity.
Government Needing Assistance
Lesotho has ample sunshine and hydropower, which comprised 99.6 percent of the country's electricity in 2022. Most of the population use pit latrines (which require no water access). Pit latrines and waterless washing facilities could, if properly developed, serve as a source of methane suitable for cooking and heating. The country needs help in incorporation of biogas and solar power for household and village use. The Ministry of Local Government is working on development of these energy sources but needs help.
Solar power is a government-recognized and -supported source for heating water, providing light, cooking, and pumping underground water. However, it generated only 0.3 percent of the country's electricity in 2022. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) began the Lesotho Renewable Energy-Based Rural Electrification project in 2006. This program seeks to replace fossil fuels (including diesel and paraffin) for those rural dwellers not tied to the national grid in order to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, which were 752,000 metric tonnes in 2022.
In another experimental program, Peace Corps volunteers and engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology saw a solar bread cooker in Lesotho and, impressed, developed solar turbines to produce electricity, refrigeration, and hot water for off-grid residents. The turbines were made from used-car parts and run on the energy from the sun rather than photovoltaics. The system generates a kilowatt, enough for household use and enough to save some trees from being burned for fuel. The effort is especially significant because 90 percent of Lesotho is off the grid; it received funding of $130,000 from the World Bank.
Wind is ample all year round, thanks to the nation’s altitude. Traditionally, Lesotho has used wind to create electricity and to pump water from boreholes, but the country shifted to manual pumping of water. Return to wind energy would reduce fuel costs. Lesotho has enough potential hydropower to export water to South Africa and still produce its own electricity, but the resource is significantly underdeveloped. The Muela hydropower station has the potential to generate additional electricity. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) recommends that the Group of Eight (G8) countries help upgrade the Muela station to provide electricity for the entire country and thereby help Lesotho incorporate power-generating capacity as it expands the number of dams for water collection.
Widespread use of photovoltaic, wind, and minihydro energy for household, community, and small business electricity needs is the goal of three pilot districts in the Renewable Energy-Based Rural Electrification project, which, if successful, would serve as the basis for a national alternative energy project. Subsidizing or offering free solar technology should be on the G8 agenda too. Finally, Lesotho needs researchers to develop sunflower oil and other biofuels as alternative fuels.
Bibliography
"Lesotho." The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, 31 July 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/lesotho/. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.
"Lesotho--Renewable Energy." International Trade Administration, 20 Feb. 2024, www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/lesotho-renewable-energy. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.
Ritchie, Heather and Max Roser. "Lesotho: Energy Country Profile." Our World in Data, 2021, ourworldindata.org/energy/country/lesotho. Accessed 4 Aug. 2024.