Carsten Elsner Energy Turnaround in Africa - the GLOCALPOWER Project

The energy transition and renewable energies are topics that concern us all - especially with regard to climate change. This is precisely my motivation for dealing with the energy transition in Africa. While economic development in the past was mostly based on fossil fuels, African countries now have the opportunity to skip this step and rely directly on renewable energies. But how does such an energy turnaround take shape? What framework conditions does politics create and what effects do the financial flows of international companies have? The GLOCALPOWER research project examines these aspects on the basis of the countries Ghana, Zambia and South Africa. Against this background, the energy transition in Africa is a "glocal" challenge, i.e. simultaneously local and global.

Within the team of GLOCALPOWER, I work as a PhD student. I am investigating the framework conditions of the energy transition in various African states with regard to how local companies and political actors are involved in the decision-making processes. International companies bring money and know-how into the country, but the local impact is often very different.

I was in Zambia from February to March 2019. There, the response to the project was very good, partly due to the current expansion of renewable energy as a response to energy shortages. To find out more about local conditions, I conducted expert interviews with international organizations and national decision makers. I investigated whether this expansion is sustainable in terms of strengthening local economic structures and creating jobs. At the moment, however, it can be observed that the expansion of renewable energies is more of an international project, in which national decision-makers and local companies are only involved to a limited extent. Thus, the opportunity to simultaneously expand renewable energy and strengthen the economy in the country is not taken.

Text: Christine Grass