How a Tiny Island Nation Is Leading the Way in Green Energy
By: Julian Mok
Lexington — The small island nation of Cape Verde is fast becoming the model for renewable energy development in Africa. As the first major wind power project developed in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region, Cape Verde serves as an important case study for West African nations who are also seeking solutions in the face of existential environmental threats.
Cape Verde is a nation consisting of ten islands 354 miles off the coast of Senegal. The tiny country is 1557 square miles of steep, rocky and volcanic land that is susceptible to droughts, deforestation, soil erosion and desertification. Land is precious, particularly in the southerly islands where there is more rainfall and fertile soils. These islands also sit directly in the path of the Atlantic Ocean trade winds, which make it a prime location for wind farms, the major source of renewable energy in the country.
Since 2006, the Cape Verdean government has shaped policy to foster the development of renewable energy sources by adopted laws that facilitate independent power producers. The islands had previously relied heavily on imported fossil fuels, which were not only environmentally damaging, but also expensive.
By 2011, Cape Verde enacted a more detailed framework enumerating the path towards its target of 100% renewable energy and providing reliable, cheap energy to all its citizens. Access to reliable power is still an issue in Africa, where 600 million lack access. Cape Verdean government aimed to change that by extending affordable renewable energy to the 10% of its citizens who still live off the grid.
Cabeolica is the private wind energy company at the center of Cape Verde’s success. By working together with the public sector, the company has built four wind farms on four of the most populated islands with a total capacity of 25.5 megawatts (MW).
By displacing more expensive imported fuels, the 30 wind turbines provides 20% of the total energy consumed by Cape Verdeans, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 55,000 tons. The country aims to rely solely on renewable energy by 2050 by capitalizing on the trade winds and creating a culture of sustainable living.
Cape Verdeans are heavily involved in the production of renewable energy. Hundreds of citizens have learned to maintain wind turbines and many others have taken it upon themselves to promote green energy. The 10% of citizens who live off the grid also participate in sustainable energy sources – many of them are farmers who use solar-power irrigation systems to water their crops.
The archipelagic nation is not only an example for West Africa but also the United States. The US has begun to shift its focus of wind projects to offshore locations to take advantage of reliable trade winds. The surge of wind projects were previously focused in the southwest in areas like Texas and New Mexico, bringing the US total to 57,000 wind turbines with a capacity to produce 100,000 MW of power.
This provides hundreds of thousands of jobs and cost $11 billion, to Cape Verde’s wind project which totaled to $90 million. While the wind turbines in the US could easily power all off Cape Verde’s energy needs several times over, it only accounts for less than 4% of all energy used in the US. The US is still heavily reliant on fossil fuels, which represents 80% of our energy tab.
For a large and geographically diverse nation like the US, solutions for renewable energy will not be as straight-forward as it is for Cape Verde. With larger energy demand and many energy sources of its own, the US has several options when it comes to powering its grids – sometimes the most accessible and affordable sources end up being the least environmentally conscious. While the US may not be able to directly model itself after Cape Verde’s wind efforts, there is much to admire in the archipelagic nation’s inclination towards planning for the future health of its environment.