Investment in decentralised renewable energy can offer a new way to support peace in South Sudan, the least electrified country in the world, says a recently published report.
According to the World Bank, only 7.2 percent of the Sudanese population has access to electricity.
In Renewable Energy and the United Nations: A Green Spark for Peace in South Sudan, researchers and authors of the report – from the Stimson Centre and Powering Peace Initiative – point out that South Sudan’s energy sector remains complex and is closely tied to the cycle of conflict and what it calls the country’s “cursed dependence on oil.”
“Investment in decentralisation would help decouple energy access from dependence on diesel, mitigating these negative externalities and supporting a wide range of development goals,” the report notes.
South Sudan gained independence in 2011, but civil war in 2013 brought with it dire consequences for the country’s citizens. Its energy sector is inextricably intertwined in the dynamics of the conflict “from the economy’s near total dependence on oil production and the accompanying patronage systems to the reliance on imported diesel for access to electricity.”
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The civil war destroyed most of the existing limited electricity infrastructure, including the few projects that had been developed in the immediate pre- and post-independence periods.
Creative solutions, the report says, could break this cycle in at least one area, that of renewable energy.
“Unique opportunities exist for the government and its international and national partners to support the development of a new, more sustainable, and widely accessible electricity infrastructure.”
The UN has had a peacekeeping mission in Sudan since the country’s independence in 2011 and the report suggests that one possible solution for the country’s electricity sector, is to work “with the energy transition objectives of the United Nations (UN) Secretariat, which present new and unique opportunities to unlock a series of clean energy projects across the country.”
“This approach is also a creative way to support peace building. Since 2005, the UN has had a peacekeeping mission in what is now South Sudan, with the current iteration, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS), deployed since independence in 2011.
“The mission is one of the largest in the world, with an annual budget of $1.12 billion as of July 2022. With a presence across most of the country, UNMISS is almost entirely dependent on diesel generators for power, spending approximately $32 million per year on diesel for the generators alone, and representing roughly 20% of total electricity consumption in the country.”
But other possible initiatives, like solar mini-grids which “represent the most achievable and scalable renewable energy source in this context,” is not highly investable (outside of the capital Juba) due to the volatile political climate and economic uncertainty.
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Currently, South Sudan’s limited electricity sector is almost entirely dependent on diesel-powered generators, with the diesel supply chain subject to external fluctuations and global shocks “that are entirely beyond the control of people in South Sudan, and yet impact the pricing for all consumers dramatically, contributing to pushing costs for diesel-powered electricity untenably high for the vast majority.”
While South Sudan exports its crude oil, it has to import refined diesel. Money and diesel are diverted in vast quantities along every stage of the diesel supply chain, resulting in diminished diesel stock, with the end consumer having to pay more.
The report also notes that “corruption and extortion” are intertwined in this sector “from the awarding of diesel contracts by the Government of South Sudan, to the declaration of imports and payment of taxes at the Nimule border, to the middlemen in Juba and the transportation routes passing through dozens of armed checkpoints around the country, to the local diesel retailers across the country’s 10 states.”
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The report further points out that with the political and economic spheres unlikely to change anytime soon, investment “in decentralised renewable energy can offer a new way to support peace in the country.”
“Investment in decentralisation would help decouple energy access from dependence on diesel, mitigating these negative externalities and supporting a wide range of development goals.
“For the communities that have been displaced for almost a decade and the urban areas that have been almost entirely razed by the fighting, the localised provision of renewable energy could be game-changing for their recovery, rehabilitation, and resilience.”
• Look at economic options for engagement. Recognising the potential value of UNMISS and the wider UN as a significant anchor electric power customer, energy retailers, independent power producers, and renewable-energy developers should actively identify feasible financial opportunities to invest in the sector. Consider nearby clinics and educational facilities as additional viable core off-takers.
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