Opening a two-day International Conference and Exhibition on Renewable Energy with the theme: 'Powering Resilience with Renewables' here yesterday, the Minister said by the end of 2020, Ethiopia planned to generate about 17,000 MW energy from renewable energy sources.

 

Dr. Shiferaw also said that there has been a need to collaborate with countries facing similar challenges in environmental issues and in meeting energy demands. Public and private joint vision to power Africa must be the basis of all development cooperation, he stressed.

 

According to Dr. Shiferaw, Africa 2063 Agenda and SDG 2030 can be realized by powering Africa with renewable energy sources.

 

Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy of African Union Commission Dr. Elham M. A Ibrahim on her part said that although Africa has a lot of hydropower resources, the sources from rivers, forests and biomass have been affected by climate change. "So, it shows how climate change affects the future, and forced us to look into ways of managing it," Dr. Elham said.

 

"Fortunately, our continent has very rich resources such as solar, wind, ocean, geothermal, we have to consider the climate change in our own design called climate resilient. Therefore, we have to work together to use it in the best way for the benefit of everyone," she added.

 

It was learned that renewable energy may satisfy half of the world's energy needs by 2050.

 

The event attracted electric utilities, financiers, researchers, energy leaders, officials, project managers and energy experts from the government and private sector, international organizations and academia.

Source : allafrica.com