Underpowered : The State of the Power Sector in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is in the midst of a power crisis marked by insufficient generating capacity, unreliable supplies, high prices, and low rates of popular access to the electricity grid. The region's capacity for generating power is lower than that of any other world region, and growth in that capacity has stagnated. The average price of power in Sub-Saharan Africa is double that of other developing regions, but supply is unreliable. Because new household connections in many countries are not keeping up with population growth, the electrification rate, already low, is actually declining. The manifestations of the current crisis are symptoms of deeper problems that are explored in this study of power sector institutions in 24 countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, which draws extensively on a new body of research undertaken as part of the multi-donor Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD). There are nearly 60 medium- to longer-term power sector projects involving the private sector in the region excluding leases for emergency power generation. Almost half of these are independent power producers (IPPs). Involving more than $2 billion of private sector investment, these IPPs have added early 3,000 MW of new capacity. A few IPP investments have been particularly well structured and contribute reliable power to the national grid.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Eberhard, Anton, Foster, Vivien, Briceño-Garmendia, Cecilia, Ouedraogo, Fatimata, Camos, Daniel, Shkaratan, Maria
Format:	Energy Study biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2008-05
Subjects:	ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY, APPROACH, AVAILABILITY, AVERAGE COSTS, AVERAGE TARIFF, BACKUP POWER, BALANCE, BENCHMARK, BENCHMARKS, BIDDING PROCESS, BLACKOUTS, BLOCK TARIFFS, BORDER TRADE, BORDER TRANSMISSION, BOTTOM LINE, CAPACITY CHARGES, CAPACITY UTILIZATION, CAPITAL COSTS, CAPITAL FLOWS, CAPITAL INVESTMENTS, CARBON DIOXIDE, CARBON DIOXIDE EMISSIONS, CHEAPER POWER, CLIMATE CHANGE, COAL, COAL GENERATION, COAL RESERVES, COGENERATION, COMMERCIAL BANKS, COMMERCIAL EFFICIENCY, COMPETITION IN GENERATION, COMPETITIVENESS, CONCESSION, CONCESSION CONTRACT, CONCESSIONS, CONSUMERS, CONSUMPTION OF ELECTRICITY, COST OF POWER, COST RECOVERY, COSTS OF POWER, CUSTOMER SERVICE, DEBT, DEVALUATION, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DIESEL, DISECONOMIES OF SCALE, DISTRIBUTION LOSSES, DISTRIBUTION NETWORK, DIVESTITURE, DOMESTIC ENERGY, DOMESTIC ENERGY RESOURCES, DOMESTIC GAS, DOMINANT FUEL, ECONOMIC COSTS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, ECONOMIC EFFECTS, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMIC OUTLOOK, ECONOMIES OF SCALE, ELECTRIC POWER, ELECTRICAL POWER, ELECTRICITY, ELECTRICITY BILL, ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION, ELECTRICITY INFRASTRUCTURE, ELECTRICITY PRICES, ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION, ELECTRICITY REGULATOR, ELECTRICITY SERVICES, ELECTRICITY SUPPLY, ELECTRIFICATION, ENERGY CRISIS, ENERGY RESERVES, ENERGY RESOURCES, EXPORTS, FINANCIAL CLOSURE, FINANCIAL VIABILITY, FOSSIL, FOSSIL FUELS, FUEL, GAS PRODUCTION, GAS RESOURCES, GDP, GDP PER CAPITA, GENERATING CAPACITY, GENERATION, GENERATION ASSETS, GENERATION CAPACITY, GENERATION COSTS, GENERATION SYSTEMS, GENERATOR, GENERATORS, GRID POWER, GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT, GROSS FIXED CAPITAL FORMATION, GROWTH RATES, HEAVY FUEL OIL, HYDROELECTRIC POTENTIAL, HYDROPOWER, INCOME, INCOME GROUPS, INDEPENDENT POWER PRODUCERS, INDEPENDENT REGULATION, INEFFICIENCY, INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES, INTERNATIONAL COMPETITIVE BIDDING, INTERNATIONAL FINANCE, INVESTMENT CLIMATE, INVESTMENT FUNDS, INVESTMENT PROGRAM, KILOWATT HOUR, LABOR RELATIONS, LEASE CONTRACT, MANAGEMENT CONTRACTORS, MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS, MARGINAL COST, MARKET RATES, MIDDLE INCOME COUNTRIES, NATURAL GAS, NATURAL GAS GENERATION, NUCLEAR POWER, NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, NUMBER OF CUSTOMERS, OIL, OIL PRICES, OIL PRODUCTION, OIL RESERVES, OUTSOURCING, PERFORMANCE CONTRACTS, PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, PERFORMANCE TARGETS, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POWER, POWER CAPACITY, POWER COSTS, POWER CRISIS, POWER DEMAND, POWER DEVELOPMENT, POWER DISTRIBUTION, POWER GENERATION, POWER GRID, POWER MARKETS, POWER OUTAGES, POWER PLANTS, POWER POOLS, POWER PRICES, POWER PRICING, POWER PRODUCERS, POWER PROJECT, POWER PROJECTS, POWER PURCHASE, POWER SECTOR, POWER SECTOR PLANNING, POWER SECTOR REFORM, POWER SECTORS, POWER SHORTAGES, POWER SUPPLIES, POWER SUPPLY, POWER SYSTEM, POWER SYSTEMS, POWER UTILITIES, PRESSURE REGULATORS, PRICE DIFFERENTIAL, PRICE INCREASES, PRICE OF POWER, PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION, PRODUCTIVITY, PUBLIC INVESTMENT, PUBLIC PRIVATE INFRASTRUCTURE, RELIABILITY OF SUPPLY, RETAIL COMPETITION, REVENUE COLLECTION, SOLAR ENERGY, STATE-OWNED UTILITIES, SUPPLY CHAIN, THERMAL CAPACITY, THERMAL POWER, TOTAL COSTS, TRANSMISSION LINES, UTILITIES, UTILITY CUSTOMERS, VOLTAGE,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/05/10468575/africa-underpowered-state-power-sector-sub-saharan-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/7833
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