Khartoum: Mohammad Fathi
At a time when Sudan suffers from continuous cuts and a rise in the cost of electricity from thermal or water generation, a number of students at the Faculty of Science ,University of Khartoum, have been preparing a study to solve the electricity problem by offering available alternatives. The authors of the study believe that renewable energy is the actual alternative, to solve the problem of electrical supply in Sudan, by providing clean, stable energy sources available to all.
The authors of the study, students of the Faculty of Science, University of Khartoum, say that the cost of supplying electricity to the villages of Sudan by means of solar panels is low compared to water power, and the study concluded that the cost of lighting 200,000 homes with solar panels is only $ 100 million.
One of the researchers, Yassin Ahmed, explained to “afroshongir” that the transition from traditional energy to renewable energy sources in Sudan is cheap, in terms of area and cost, compared to reservoirs and dams, noting that covering 4,000 homes with a renewable energy of 10Mwatt, needs about 50,000 solar panels, at a cost estimated at about two million dollars, with a total area ofsolar panels per acre, which is 15 acres, at a time when the cost of hydropower production is estimated at $ 10 million.
According to the study, Khashm Al Girba reservoir, for example, generates the same amount of energy annually, according to the cost and area ofthe project, which amounts to about 10 million US dollars, in an area of140 acres, and the study urged the concerned authorities to overcome the technical aspects that hinder the establishment of renewable energy projects, and the creation of a body concerned with thestudy in the Ministry.
It is noteworthy that there is a fierce jostle on global investments in renewable energy during the current decade, amounting to $ 2.6 trillion, with the creation of more megawatts of solar energy than any other generation technology, more than three times the investments in the past ten years.
The report, “Global Trends in Investing in Renewable Energy for 2019”, issued by the United Nations Environment Program, expects investment in renewable energy to nearly quadruple, with the exception of energy generated from large waterfalls, and the report emphasized that most of the increase will be led by solar energy.
Svenia Schultz, the German Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, who contributed to the report, said that technologies for using wind, sun or geothermal energy are available, being competitive and clean.
Schultz announced that within ten years Germany will release two-thirds of its energy based on renewable energy sources, noting that the industrialized country can phase out coal and nuclear energy at the same time, without endangering its economy.
