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Abstract While auctions are becoming increasingly popular for tendering renewable energy projects to private developers in Africa, their specific project risk implications are not yet fully understood. This paper identifies project risks arising from two types of auction schemes. It compares an approach where the government pre-selects the sites for future renewable energy plants in Zambia's Scaling Solar initiative to one where project developers choose, secure and conduct due diligence on their sites before bidding in South Africa's Africa's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REI4P). Semi-structured interviews with developers who have participated in both schemes reveal notably different risk profiles. Despite contrary intentions, site-specific risks have been perceived as the highest overall project risk in the government-led site selection process in Zambia. Specifically, site-specific risks were driven by several severe technical issues such as geotechnical, grid connection and solar irradiation uncertainties. In contrast, in South Africa's developer-led site selection process, site-specific risks have been reported to be important, but less pronounced, and more evenly distributed among technical, economic, legal, permitting and social risk factors. This paper recommends an auction design which minimises project risks for all stakeholders. Where governments pre-select sites, closely consulting the private sector is advisable prior to bidding to identify and mitigate technical and other site-specific risks. Highlights • Explores risk impact of two site selection & preparation strategies for solar PV project procurement in sub-Saharan Africa. • The widely used strategy in the region is for a government institution or utility to select and prepare the project site. • The second strategy is where the private sector developers are responsible for selecting & preparing the site before bidding. • We find that a government-led site selection strategy can lead to increase risks, costs and timelines if poorly executed. • It is argued that more private sector involvement in the site selection & preparation process might reduce these risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Concentrating solar power (CSP) seems to be a promising solution for rural electrification in Sub-Saharan Africa. Small scale CSP plant appears to be most appropriate because it is suitable to the needs of rural communities: most of components can be found to be of low cost in the African market and there are available qualified local human resource to build the systems. A state of art of small scale CSP plants in the range of 1–500 kW e are reviewed in this paper to showcase previous and current works undertaken throughout the world. 35 small scale CSP plants are identified and reviewed in the paper. Technical analysis is conducted on the identified plants to understand their operating principles. The technical analysis highlighted reasons behind the choices made for every component from the solar field to the power block. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Private investments are critical enablers to achieving energy access for over 770 million people worldwide. Despite decreasing capital costs, investments in renewable energy (RE) projects in developing countries are low due to unattractive risk-return profiles. Through understanding key risks drivers and their interactions, actionable insights can be drawn to mitigate investment risks, making energy more accessible. This paper reviews RE risks and methods used for risk assessment and mitigation for developed and developing countries with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa countries (SSA). The review finds that while risk analysis and evaluation mainly employed semi-quantitative multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) and system dynamics (SD) methods for developing countries, qualitative methods were used to identify mitigations. The methods assessed technical and economic risks at a minimum, while MCDA and SD methods can assess social, political, and policy risks. The efficacies of mitigations were tested using SD and quantitative methods such as agent-based modelling and Monte Carlo simulation. The paper further introduces a 'holistic multi-dimensional investor risk management framework' which can be used to identify actions to improve investment risks in a structured manner. The framework addresses four fundamental limitations observed in the existing literature, recognising that RE risks are complex and involve multidisciplinary perspectives having interactions and feedbacks with other risks, actors, and their actions. This review provides a valuable reference to investors, policymakers, and researchers, providing a catalogue of risks, methods deployed in literature, including a framework to identify impactful actions to improve risk levels. • Previous review of RE risk management methods has been fragmented. • A holistic critical review of risk assessment and mitigation methods is presented. • A holistic 'multi-dimensional investor risk management framework' is introduced. • The framework addresses four fundamental limitations observed in the existing literature. • This framework is further applied from a Sub-Saharan Africa perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa is generally one of the most electricity deprived regions in the world. Since the 1990s, the World Bank and other relevant and respected multilateral organisations have consistently advocated that the required finance to develop sub-Saharan Africa's essential electricity capacity should be sourced from the private sector. However, despite this ongoing advocacy, the private sector has been unenthusiastic to answer this call. Much of the literature attributes this reticence to a lack of 'good governance': principally negative behaviours such as corruption. Instead, in this paper we argue that this is too simplistic an explanation, as private investment has still been able to thrive in other locations where such negative behaviours have existed. To support this argument, we utilise an interdisciplinary approach to review three separate academic governance perspectives, to deliver a more comprehensive view. These are: 1) Financial Investment Governance , the private sector investor's perspective, which focuses on the rules and institutions (or lack of) that directly influence the financial investment environment; 2) Political Governance, the political economy perspective, which relates to the negative, indirect investment consequences resulting from the way that governments govern; and 3) Technological Governance, a 'systems' perspective, which encompasses how the standard structure and organisation of the wider electricity delivery system in each country, negatively impacts such investment. In discussion and conclusion, we find that if the development policy perspective for delivering electricity access to the region is to be successfully constructed around private investment, as the multilateral development community advocates, it will need to accommodate 15 distinct issues that can be identified from this comprehensive review of governance. • Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most electricity deprived regions in the world. • The private sector has been unenthusiastic and reluctant to channel investment towards electricity infrastructure. • This study utilises three different academic approaches to explain why. • These are: 1) Financial Investment Governance , 2) Political Governance, and 3) Technological Governance. • A synthesis identifies 15 distinct governance issues that need overcome to better govern energy poverty and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The absence of publicly available up-to-date costs breakdown data on photovoltaic (PV)/hybrid mini-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is a barrier that needs to be resolved in order to overcome challenges in rural electrification planning, regulation, life-cycle operation, financing, and funding. The primary aim of this research is to provide better understanding of the cost structures of PV/hybrid mini-grid projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The review on existing literature reveals significant lack of transparency and inconsistencies in PV/hybrid mini-grid costs. This paper aims to support the fact that there still remains a strong need to reduce the gap between current business model concepts and successfully implemented scale-up electrification models. Based on the experience of PV/hybrid mini-grids projects implemented in various rural communities of SSA, we propose a multi-dimensional cost analysis with a standardised break-down of the real costs of installed projects. Subsequently, we assess the main social and environmental implications and we identify barriers that appear to hinder successful PV mini-grid planning and subsequent implementation in SSA. Africa has the unique opportunity to utilize renewable energy as a primary energy source. Indeed, the continent has the potential to bring electricity especially to its rural population by means of PV/hybrid mini-grids. However, the capability of public and private sector investors to pre-evaluate projects is limited by the lack of locally available information on PV/hybrid mini-grid costs or the reliability of data (when available). Multi-dimensional cost analysis of social and environmental impacts from this study highlight that PV/hybrid mini-grids offer a unique opportunity to create a standardised framework for quantifying costs of PV/hybrid mini-grids in SSA, that can support decision-making processes for designing viable business models. Findings show that there is a strong need to minimise the data quality gap between current business model and that of successfully implemented PV/hybrid mini-grids electrification projects. This gap could be mitigated through studying the issues that influence mini-grid costs (both hardware and software). In addition to understanding other factors that can influence project costs such as the market maturity and remoteness of the site, organisation capability, development approach, and level of community involvement. Regarding policy considerations, stronger political will coupled with proactive rural electrification strategies and targeted renewable energy regulatory framework would be essential in order to establish viable dynamic domestic market for off grid renewables. In the presented benchmarking analysis, the experiences of public and private development organisations are synchronized to contribute to the furthest extent possible to facilitate the assessment. Those include the disaggregation of component costs according to their unit in order to make comparison more accurate and include site-specific parameters in the discussion of costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inadequate access to electricity is one of the pressing developmental challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ensuring universal access by 2030 will require additional sources of finance as current investment volumes are inadequate. Increasingly, the integral role that household investors can play is being realised and understanding the preferences of such household investors is crucial to raising the necessary investments to bridge the gap. Using a discrete choice survey administered to Ghanaian household investors, this paper presents findings on household investor willingness to pay for the attributes associated with renewable energy (RE) investments and the effect of demographic variables on the likelihood of investing. The findings show that the track record of the developer is the most valued attribute associated with the highest marginal willingness to pay for RE projects. This was followed by the project viability attribute that represents the availability of support systems deemed necessary to enhance the viability of RE projects. Interestingly, the rate of return, although valued, was not the most important in the investment decision-making. Regarding demographics, young people (18–34 years) were found to be more likely than other counterparts to invest in renewable energy. Additionally, the findings establish the presence of heterogeneity between respondents for investment attributes. Finally, an investigation of the choice of technology showed that solar PV was the most preferred technology while wind energy is the least preferred. Overall, this paper highlights the importance of non-financial factors in the renewable energy investment decision making of household investors aside the rate of return. • A section of household investors have an interest in investing in renewable energy (RE). • Highest MWTP is associated with developer track record and project viability attributes both proxies for the risk investors attach to RE projects. • Young people found more likely than other counterparts to invest in RE. • Solar PV is the most preferred RE technology and wind energy the least. • Favourable policy and financial support needed to promote RE investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically examines the literature on the grid-offgrid debate and discusses the role of and the relationship between different electricity access options through a synthesis and critical reflection. This paper finds that models using greater resolution and capturing low voltage distribution infrastructure appear to recommend decentralised electricity solutions, whereas central grid extension emerges as the preferred outcome of more aggregated analysis, concentrated population clusters and for higher demand scenarios. However, model results are seriously influenced by assumptions, data limitations, technology choice options, and model flexibility. Exclusion of cost of generation for grid systems, lack of village level information, inherent bias towards scale and type of technology, and absence of social equity considerations in the analysis remain major weaknesses of the existing models. Universal electrification requires a strong leadership and an enabling environment. An appropriate organizational set-up, a robust regulatory framework with reporting and evaluation oversight and a more inclusive approach to promote alternative options are vital ingredients. Power sector decarbonization pathways may affect electrification choices but our understanding is limited or lacking. Further work is required to develop a programmatic approach to delivery and more affordable and fairer outcome for all. • The paper presents the up-to-date review of the debate on grid and off-grid electrification. • We find a strong leadership and an enabling environment is essential for universal electrification by the year 2030. • Appropriate organizational set-up, robust regulatory framework and shift from grid-centric focus to a more inclusive approach to promote alternative options is equally important. • Important to develop a programmatic approach to delivery and more affordable and fairer outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Universal electricity access is an important development objective, and the focus of a number of key global UN initiatives. While robust electricity planning is widely believed to be a prerequisite for effective electrification, to date, no comprehensive overview of electricity planning research has been undertaken on sub-Saharan Africa, the world region with the lowest access rates. This paper reviews quantitative and qualitative electricity planning and related implementation research, considering each of the 49 sub-Saharan African countries, the four regional power pools and the sub-continent as a whole. Applying a broad understanding of electricity planning and a practical limit of 20 reviewed articles per country and region, 306 relevant peer-reviewed journal articles are included in this review. A general classification scheme is introduced that classifies the planning literature along the addressed value chain depth, number of different analysed criteria and number of evaluated decision alternatives. The literature is found to be strongly clustered in a few countries, with less than 5 identified relevant articles in 36 of the 49 countries. The total amount of articles per year is clearly increasing over time, addressing technology choice, operation, distribution and implementation analyses. Although including different high-level criteria in analysing electricity systems is common, the literature is only starting to use formalised multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) tools. The review indicates that 63% of relevant articles favour renewable energy technologies for their given problems. Frequently mentioned success factors for electrification in sub-Saharan Africa include adequate policy design, sufficient finance and favourable political conditions. While considerable regional and methodological literature gaps are apparent, the literature in this review identifies a rich and fruitful ground for future research to fill these gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the current research is to examine the factors that influence household use of determinants of renewable and clean energy sources used for lighting purposes in Africa using the data from the Living Standard Measurement Study (LSMS) from three African countries: Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Malawi. For this purpose, the paper uses multinomial logit and ordered probit econometrics models. The descriptive analysis reveals that rural households are dependent largely on kerosene and batteries for lighting their houses, while electricity and batteries form a major source of energy for lighting urban households. A small fraction of households uses solid fuels and solar as their source of energy for lighting. Econometric results show that female-headed households are likely to adopt clean and renewable sources of energy compared to male-headed households. Wealthier and more educated households are found to use electricity and solar energy for lighting, while poorer households tend to use kerosene, batteries, and solid fuels. Empirical results indicated that the Ethiopian households, followed by Malawian households, are more likely to use clean sources of energy compared to Tanzanian households. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper tackles two main tasks. First, it reviews the use of the Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) model in the energy sector. The review sheds light on the utility of the SWOT model in this sector. It reveals that the model, which is borrowed from the business world, has been employed only rarely and with little modification in the energy sector. Second, it develops and proposes a modified version of the model for use in assessing energy technologies in developing regions. The modified version contains two main variants, the one, qualitative and the other, quantitative. The qualitative variant is successfully employed here for illustrative purposes, to assess the sustainability of the sawdust cookstove as a cooking device in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The quantitative variant requires data that can be elicited through questionnaires and/or interview schedules administered to energy sector stakeholders, policymakers and/or energy experts. Both variants have potential use for technology developers, researchers and policymakers in the energy policy field in SSA in particular and developing regions in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to provide a broad review and assessment of the feedstocks and applicable biogas technologies that are feasible in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Biodigesters and feedstocks available in SSA were identified according to scale and application – household, community, institutional, and commercial. Aside from livestock manure, suitable feedstocks for household, community, and institutional biodigesters include crop residues, night soil/domestic sewage, and the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). Significant untapped feedstocks exist from SSA agro-processing and food production industries. Biodigesters available in SSA for household, community, and institutional installations include variations of fixed dome, plug flow, and floating cover digesters. Commercial digester designs applicable to the region include continuously stirred tank reactors and fixed film digesters. The key factors that need to be considered in selecting suitable biodigester designs for specific applications include: feedstock availability, water supply, energy demand, local materials and labour, and the level of commitment to operate and maintain the biodigester effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy system models can be used to explore future sustainable energy pathways for the household sector in order to inform policy decisions. However, few residential energy system models have been developed for the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region and they do not account for the key diversities of energy use within the sector. This paper addresses this gap by developing a new residential energy model for Nigeria—the most populous country in SSA. The model is then used to explore different energy transition scenarios for the sector. Results indicate that the final energy consumption of the rural households will reduce and that of the urban households will increase significantly by 2050 when compared to the base year levels. The results indicate that cooking remains the most energy-intensive end-use. Analysis of the scenarios reveals that realising Sustainable Development Goal number 7 in Nigeria will drastically reduce the final energy demand of the sector. The transition from fuelwood to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for cooking will reduce indoor air pollutants considerably but will increase CO 2 emissions by 2050. The results also indicate that including the cost of externalities in energy cost makes electricity and biogas more economically viable options for cooking. While the model results are insightful, the paper argues that robust and dedicated policies are needed for a sustainable energy transition of the Nigerian residential sector. • A bottom-up energy system model for the Nigerian residential sector: TINIRES is developed. • Energy system implications of SDG 7 in Nigeria household sector by 2030 and beyond. • Household energy consumption is expected to increase by 100% between 2010 and 2050. • Biogas is the most economically viable option for cooking in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With insolation levels ranging from 4 to 7 kW h/m 2 /day, the African continent receives a higher amount of solar energy on its surface than the rest of the world. Hence, investments in solar electricity generation projects in African countries have the potential to be economically attractive. This paper reviews the feasibility of off-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) systems in SSA, focusing on five major issues in the context of falling system costs: cost-effectiveness, affordability, financing, environmental impact, and poverty alleviation. Over time, solar PV system costs have fallen dramatically across the globe. This is also the case in SSA, yet the costs prevailing in SSA are much higher than the world average owing to political, financial, and technological risks. Solar PV power systems continue to be an extremely costly source of electricity for the vast majority of the rural poor in SSA. The levellized cost of energy for solar PV systems is high, at US$0.83 per kW h. With an annual rate of decrease of PV system costs of 4% and 7.67% it is estimated that it will take from 8.7 to 16.9 years for solar home systems for electricity generation to become competitive with conventional diesel generators. The cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions through rural solar PV electrification is in the range 150–626 US$/tCO 2 , which is extremely high compared with the current price of traded CO 2 emission permits or current estimates of the social cost of carbon of approximately 39 US$/tCO 2 . Off-grid solar PV systems are not feasible financially or economically for rural households of SSA unless these technologies are subsidised from abroad. If the policy of a country is to encourage rural electrification, it should carry this out through a systematic expansion of either local or national grids rather than household-level solar PV systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biogas technology has the potential to provide benefits to three priority areas in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): energy supply, sanitation, and food security. Despite this, uptake of biogas systems has been slow and sporadic in the region. This review paper investigates what has prevented widespread dissemination of the technology in SSA by looking at the key barriers in the region, as well as identifying the main opportunities and the lessons that can be learned from successful biogas dissemination experiences in Rwanda, Tanzania, China, India, and Nepal. Installation costs, limited awareness and training for biogas users and insufficient follow-up services were recognised as being among the key barriers. SSA has favourable conditions for biogas technology, namely a suitable tropical climate in most parts of the region, a dominance of agricultural activities, and interest in alternatives to expensive conventional energy services. The region׳s favourable conditions therefore provide opportunities for increasing uptake of the technology. Experiences in other regions highlighted the importance of the government in supporting the biogas sector through suitable policies and incentives. Collaboration between research institutions, governmental departments, and biogas users, both current and future, was also recognised as being vital to improve the technology׳s dissemination and appropriate, long-term use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews use of organic resources in rural Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), impacts on household energy, and interactions with provision of food and water. Wood, charcoal and dung supply over 70% of household energy in SSA, but with improvements in energy technologies, crop-residues and human excreta could also contribute. Improving cookstoves is not enough to make woodfuel use sustainable, reducing deforestation due to woodfuel demand by only 41–50%. Further reductions of 21% are achieved by using crop-residues and 23% by anaerobic digestion of cattle manure. Taken together, these measures could reduce deforestation due to woodfuel demand by 70–100%. Burning crop-residues loses a large proportion of nitrogen needed for crop production, which could be partially counteracted by applying biochar from pyrolysis cookstoves to improve retention of soil nitrogen. Better nutrient recycling would be achieved by composting, but this precludes energy provision. Both energy and efficient nutrient recycling are provided by anaerobic digestion, but carbon sequestration is reduced compared to composting or pyrolysis. Nevertheless, a wider range of waste materials may be recycled in the closed digester system, so pyrolysis of dry crop-residues together with anaerobic digestion of wet wastes is likely to provide the best solution for both food and energy. However, anaerobic digestion may demand more water than pyrolysis and, if soil carbon is reduced, may also increase the need for irrigation. Therefore, in water limited areas, biogas digesters should only be installed if integrated with water harvesting systems. Governments can encourage adoption of sustainable technologies by providing subsidies to cover fixed costs, facilitating credit and complementary infrastructure investments, and improving standardisation and quality control in cookstove and digester markets. Implementation work should involve communities and households, giving women a role in decision-making to ensure community investment in water access. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agro-processing industries can play a critical role in the development of sustainable and clean energy systems. The lack of knowledge about the technical and economic viability of agro-waste to energy is a major barrier to the successful implementation of such energy systems in developing countries, especially sub-Saharan Africa countries. This paper presents the techno-economic-environmental assessment of a cluster of rice mills located in Abakaliki, Nigeria, as a provider of clean energy. The cluster of rice mills can sustainably fulfil its energy needs through the application of organic Rankine cycle based combined heat and power plant fired by rice husks. Three scenarios of the plant were proposed and investigated for complete information. The rice husk from the cluster can provide daily 20–30 MWh and 4–91 MWh of electrical power and thermal power, respectively, at 14.5–21% efficiency. A tonne of rice husk can provide 0.45–0.65 MWh of electricity; that the unit cost of electricity from the proposed system is between 0.12 and 0.159$/kWh, which is better than 0.947 US$/kWh for the diesel generator currently in use. About 270–483 kg of CO 2 /MWh can be saved by the proposed combined heat and power system in relation to the current use of Lister diesel generators. The proposed plant has the potentials to support the Nigerian Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement. The work also presents an appropriate business model and policy pathway for sustainable cottage rice processing industries. • Assessment of rice husk potential for cleaner energy generation. • Proposed three CHP ORC rice husk fired plants. • Techno-economic-environmental analyses of CHP ORC. • Appropriate sustainable business and energy model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite numerous studies of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), the evidence is still inconclusive and little has been done to capture the issue of environmental sustainability and welfare aspects of growth in the EKC relationship. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the environment-development linkage under a sustainability-oriented EKC framework in 20 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries for the period from 1990 to 2015. The Common Correlated Effects version of Pooled Mean Group Estimator (CCE-PMG) in the context of error-correction based panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) model augmented with cross-sectional averages was employed as a preferred estimation technique. The study also used an appropriate U test to check the presence of genuine inverted U-shaped EKC relationship. The results confirm the existence of a modified EKC hypothesis in SSA, but the linkage depends on the extent of endowment of natural resources. Among the growth-related factors, energy consumption and trade openness are found to have a long run detrimental effect on the environment. The study suggests that country's effort for economic development needs to be accompanied by appropriate policy options to ensure environmental sustainability. • Modified EKC = baseline EKC + Sustainability. • An appropriate U-test was employed to check the presence of genuinely inverted U-shaped EKC hypothesis. • The findings support a modified EKC hypothesis for resource-intensive SSA countries. • A monotonically increasing relationship is found in non-resource intensive SSA countries. • Economic development can be seen as a solution to environmental degradation. • Country's growth efforts need to be supplemented with pro-environmental measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to assess thermal comfort conditions in vernacular dwellings in western sub-Saharan Africa. The paper identifies six vernacular and low-tech building typologies specific for selected countries. Comparative analysis of user comfort and thermal performance of case studies, representative for each typology was carried out, as the first step towards climate resilient, sustainable and bioclimatic architecture in the region of the investigation. The measurements of temperature, relative humidity, indoor air quality and daylighting as well as the user satisfaction survey were performed in February 2019 and repeated in August 2019. It was determined that during the hot and dry season, the indoor temperatures of 26–30 °C were achieved in traditional dwellings (Typologies I-IV) and accepted by 60–70% of inhabitants, while in 'modern houses' (Typology VL2 and VI) the level of user thermal comfort was significantly lower (only 20% felt comfortable). During the colder wet season 90% of users felt comfortable in vernacular dwellings and only 50% in 'modern houses'. High levels of CO 2 concentrations were detected in dwellings with tight envelopes (1800–1900 ppm) due to the lack of adequate ventilation. In pursue of solution various air exchange rates were examined to check how they comply with the user thermal comfort perception. It was found that the optimal ventilation should provide the air exchange rate of 0.5 VR/h which allows to fulfil minimal demands of ISO and ASHRAE standards. The study established the baselines for sustainable, bioclimatic, affordable housing model for western sub-Saharan Africa. • Bothersome issues in examined dwellings are related to indoor overheating, poor air quality and low amount of daylight. • High CO 2 concentrations (1800-1900 ppm) were detected in dwellings with tight envelopes due to the lack of ventilation. • Combination of thermal mass, natural ventilation and shading provides effective protection against overheating. • Thermal mass should be ventilated and optimal ventilation should provide the air exchange rate of 0.5 VR/h. • Small, shaded openings at the higher part of the building do not cause any increase of indoor temperature. • Evaporative cooling from the water surface is effective in the combination with openwork walls and thatched roofs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) experiences an energy poverty crisis, with more than 600 million of its 1.2 billion inhabitants living without access to modern energy services. Despite this, vast amounts of renewable energy resources are geographically distributed across the region. SSA needs to establish proper planning mechanisms if it is to achieve universal access while mitigating Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission. This paper presents a scoping review of 30 integrated energy modeling studies that concern SSA. The review indicates that addressing the region's energy access challenges will require decentralized generation and grid extension to be employed in a synergistic way. Achieving high access levels while limiting GHG emissions will require energy decision makers to enact and implement climate, techno-economic, environmental, and efficiency policies. Additionally, technology learning and energy storage will improve the uptake of variable renewable resources. Operationalization of power trade will reduce the capital investment costs required to meet the current and future energy demand and tap into potential of the abundant renewable energy resources in SSA region. Energy planning using an integrated energy systems model will be key to achieving these aims at national as well as regional level. Accordingly, it is necessary that national governments and energy decision makers in the region work in tandem with energy stakeholders, local academic institutions, and international energy modeling experts to build local capacities. This will then enable a synchronized framework for the development of short-to medium-term national energy models, the results of which could then be integrated into a regional model. • The European based institutions are the main drivers of the SSA region's energy modeling studies. • There is need for capacity building in the SSA region. • Future modeling studies need to adopt a hybrid approach. • Future modeling work should incorporate the finer representation of key power elements. • Power pools are key for renewable energy uptake in SSA: It is recommended to adopt a cyclic approach of energy modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]