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Sub Saharan Africa has a great renewable energy potential. Rural areas are suffering from poor energy access. Some systems designed to address this issue are still faced with some difficulties. Appropriate approaches and energy plant development will help remote areas to address the issue of electricity access. The current development of some micro hydro and micro solar energy plants is of poor quality and maintenance, sometimes resulting in failures. There are also some common mistakes made when promoting (designing) an energy system in an African environment. Identifying issues from local constraints and lessons learned will contribute to determining the appropriate sizing, technology and tools to correctly develop micro hydro and micro solar energy plants.

Abstract Energy access in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains a challenging issue at the midway point to the United Nations' development goals. From the perspective of energy efficiency and diversification of power-generation sources, this paper investigates the capacity of the wood-processing industry to contribute to the decentralised power generation by performing a techno-economic analysis of the use of wood residues for cogeneration. Using a survey performed in Cameroon as a case study, a biomass-fuelled cogeneration scheme and a model analysing its viability are proposed for the specific context of SSA. A sensitivity analysis indicates for a given process efficiency of the industry, the attractiveness of cogeneration as the processing capacity and feed-in tariffs of electricity increase. More specifically, the threshold of feed-in tariffs ensuring the economic viability of CHP in the sub-region is estimated at $0.15 per kWh for mills where the output capacities of sawn timber products are of 5000 cubic metre per annum and more. The power-generation potential from the primary processing of timbers in the sub-region is about 388 kWh per cubic metre of sawn wood, while the energy intensity of the sawing process is estimated at 132 kWh per cubic metre. Therefore, the industry can generate up to 2472 GWh of electricity in the three sub-regions of East, West and Central Africa if a total of US$ 2.5 billion is invested, allowing a substantial increase of 1% of the current electricity-generation capacity for the geographic location which has the most important forestry resources on the continent. Highlights • Wood-processing residues can contribute significantly to the distributed power generation in African forestry regions. • Energy patterns and the biomass feedstocks from wood-processing industries in Sub-Saharan Africa is comprehensively analysed. • The condensing-extraction steam turbine appears to be the most suitable technology for wood-fired CHP in Sub-Saharan Africa. • A model analysing the viability of industrial wood-fired CHP in the particular context of Sub-Saharan Africa is provided. • Key barriers to the development of waste-wood-fuelled CHP in Sub-Saharan Africa are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Africa possesses important renewable energy potential that continues to suffer from poor development. The primary cause of the poor use of renewable energy is the poor commitment and dedication among the region's governments who have not taken the necessary measures to support the sector. The primary purpose of this paper is to emphasize the renewable energy resources of Central Africa that they may be used optimally. The report also describes the availability of renewable energy resources and suggests actions to promote and sustain their development by improving access to sustainable, environmentally friendly, and affordable energy services, making significant improvements to energy infrastructure in Central Africa, and promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency. The work presents the potential for solar, biomass and hydropower, indicating where development is available. Next, the identified obstacles of clean energy promotion are targeted. Finally, suggestions are offered to help countries develop a vision aimed at developing good clean energy policy that increases the status of environmentally friendly energy. A Cameroon case study is examined as an illustration. Several documents are cited from institutions in the region and abroad. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Situated at equator level, Central Africa is a wetted area, sunny and not that windy. The region owns important renewable energy potential, namely solar, hydro and biomass. For a number of reasons, this important potential is still suffering from poor development. The main cause of the poor use of renewable energy is the poor commitment and dedication of governments who have not taken the necessary measures to boost enough decentralized and renewable energy. Thermal plants are hence unfortunately heavily used where other alternatives are possible. The purpose of this paper is among other things aiming at showing how solar and hydro energy sources of Central Africa are currently developed and addressing the problems faced. The work also addresses the issue of filling the gap between the abundant solar and hydro resources and its poor development compare to the rest of the world. Based on some case studies in Cameroon, actions to sustain ongoing initiatives and promote their development are suggested. This paper also addresses the problems actually faced and recommends actions for mitigation for a significant improvement of energy infrastructure in remote areas. In such areas, the promotion of renewable energy and energy efficiency are very important for poverty alleviation. From lessons learned, suggestions will be made to help the countries of the region develop a vision aiming at developing adequate clean energy policy to increase the status of solar and microhydro energy sources and, thus, better contribute to fight against climate change. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Carbon dioxide recharge and limnic eruption processes in deep lakes are reviewed. • Novel system associating pumped-hydro storage and deep lakes degassing is analysed. • The proposed system gives way to sustainable and useful gas removal from deep lakes. • Technical arrangements for pumped-hydro storage at natural deep lakes is provided. • The levelised cost of storage for the proposed system is analysed. Nowadays, pumped-hydro storage is the most established large-scale energy storage technology, but its implementation is seriously constrained by the availability of favourable sites. The geographical symbiosis between mountainous areas and deep lakes offers good prospects for the detection of such sites. In these areas, the generally meromictic structure of such lakes causes carbon dioxide saturation in the deep waters and, in order to mitigate the risk of lethal limnic eruptions as the world has already experienced, the gas-lift technique is being applied although it has a serious environmental drawback. This paper proposes an innovative and sustainable symbiotic match between pumped-hydro energy storage with the ideal deep lake degassing solution, providing removal of toxic gases from deep layers without polluting the surface waters of the lake. Considering the two Cameroonian "killer lakes" Nyos and Monoun taken as cases studies, the feasibility of the proposed system is analysed as well as conditions for participation in the local power market. As a result, the threat posed by these two hazardous water bodies is transformed into an opportunity to store about 756 MWh of electrical energy. In terms of installed capacity, this can achieve as much as 80 MW available for harnessing variable renewable energy and contributing to peak power supply. Finally, thanks to the number and distribution of deep lakes around the world, the proposed system shows capability to significantly contribute to the global energy storage potential in a context marked by an ever increasing need for flexibility in power systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]