Togo's energy consumption

Official Name: Togolese Republic

Summary: The West African country of Togo has a largely impoverished population, of whom only 57.2 percent have access to electricity. Much of the population’s energy needs are met by biomass and animal waste.

Togo is a West African country of 8.9 million people, growing at an average of 2.41 percent per year as of 2024. The urban population increased from 34.5 percent in 2005 to 44.5 percent in 2023. The population is about 66.5 percent literate, but 45.5 percent lived in poverty as of 2018. Only 57.2 percent of the population is tied to the electrical grid, and traditional fuels—wood, sugarcane waste, charcoal, and animal waste—remain important sources of energy. Togo belongs to the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Access to electricity has increased in Togo over the years. In 2000, ECOWAS began to tie the national power networks together through 5,600 kilometers of power lines. Togo was one of those nations already at least partially interconnected—better than Mali, Senegal, and countries that have no links at all. In 2022, Togo had a total installed generating capacity of 309,000 kilowatt-hours. Hydropower accounted for 18.4 percent of that generating capacity, while fossil fuels accounted for 74.4 percent, solar for 6.8 percent, and biomass and waste for 0.4 percent. In 2021, 67 percent of energy use was residential, with industry accounting for 5.3 percent and transportation for 17.7 percent.

Power Resources

The Akosombo Dam in Ghana produces 80 percent of the electricity used in Togo. A transmission line has been in place since 1975. An interest-free loan from Canada helped to finance the transmission line. Although exploration has been undertaken, no petroleum has been found in Togo. A hydroelectric station at Kpime was built with help from the former Yugoslavia. In 1987, a second hydroelectric plant, the 65-megawatt Nangbeto plant on the Mono River, came online. As of 2024, a total of six power plants were operating in Togo. Internally, electrical generation comes primarily from hydropower and fossil fuels. Petroleum is the sole fossil energy source used in Togo. Use of oil increased from 10,000 barrels of oil per day in 2001 to more than 15,000 barrels per day in 2007, before dropping to 12,000 barrels per day by 2022. The country has no fossil fuel reserves and thus must import 100 percent of the petroleum it uses. Togo also makes use of coal and natural gas, consuming 108,000 metric tons of the former and 131.373 million cubic meters of the latter in 2022. It uses no nuclear energy. For residential use, firewood and other combustibles are used, which is a major reason for deforestation.

There is little use of renewables (wind, geothermal, or solar power) in Togo, although the country has significant wind energy potential. According to research, Togo is suffering from the deforestation that comes from slash-and-burn agriculture, reliance on wood for fuel, water pollution that damages the fishing industry and endangers health, and air pollution in urban areas. The development of renewables would ameliorate these problems.

Electrical Advances

Adétikopé is a typical example of a semiurban, poorly electrified population center with a desire for electrical development to allow home lighting, the use of home appliances, and income-producing activities such as woodworking and sewing. As of 2024, however, a new solar power station was planned for the commune. Many villages have no official tie to the grid, but many can get under-the-table electricity from officials who charge them for the electricity. Generator-produced electricity is inadequate and of poor quality or reliability. Personal generators are expensive, as is fuel. Black-market fuel from Ghana is especially dear. Solar power is insufficient and of low intensity, but may improve with further investment.

There are signs that developing countries might be able to skip directly to renewable energy, bypassing the stage of dependency on fossil fuels. Advocates of this “energy leapfrogging” point to telecommunications by way of comparison: Whereas in industrialized nations a landline telephone system developed and has become secondary to wireless technology, in many developing African nations, millions of Africans use mobile phones without their nations ever having developed adequate landline networks. Togo’s government has left a similar void in electricity access. Skeptics note that the cost of electrifying an entire town through solar technologies would be prohibitive, and high government customs duties on top of that expense make this route prohibitive. Moreover, the potential market may be one customer per month. Solar advocates suggest that communities could instead put panels on high-priority buildings, such as schools and hospitals, to bring in electricity to these critical facilities rather than waiting decades to have the means of putting solar panels on residences or waiting forever to link to the grid. Some movement from microcredit organizations has the potential to compensate for the absence of nongovernmental and governmental financial aid for solar energy in Togo.

Bibliography

Marlow, Jeffrey. “Energy Leapfrogging: A View From Togo.” Green (blog), 14 Aug. 2009, green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/energy-leapfrogging-a-view-from-togo. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

“Togo.” CIA World Factbook, 7 Aug. 2024, www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/togo. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

“Togo.” International Energy Agency, 2024, www.iea.org/countries/togo. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.

“Togo: Energy and Power.” Encyclopedia of the Nations, 2024, www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Togo-ENERGY-AND-POWER.html. Accessed 9 Aug. 2024.