650m people to live without electricity in 2030 – Report

Joseph Inokotong, Abuja

An estimated 650 million people have been projected not to have access to electricity in 2030 despite significant progress made in recent years.

The report explains that nine out of 10 of those people lacking access to power will be living in sub-Saharan Africa.

This projection is contained in a new report produced by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The report states that more people have access to electricity than before, but the world is falling short of sustainable energy goals.

According to the new report, despite significant progress in recent years, the world is falling short of meeting the global energy targets set in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for 2030.

“Ensuring affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 remains possible, but will require more sustained efforts, particularly to reach some of the world’s poorest populations and to improve energy sustainability,” the report stated.

It pointed out that notable progress has been made on energy access in recent years, with the number of people living without electricity dropping to roughly 840 million from 1 billion in 2016 and 1.2 billion in 2010.

India, Bangladesh, Kenya and Myanmar are among countries that made the most progress since 2010, the report disclosed.

“However, without more sustained and stepped-up actions, 650 million people will still be left without access to electricity in 2030. Nine out of 10 of them will be living in sub-Saharan Africa,” the report further said.

The report also shows that great efforts have been made to deploy renewable energy technology for electricity generation and to improve energy efficiency across the world.

Nonetheless, it states that access to clean cooking solutions and the use of renewable energy in heat generation and transport are still lagging far behind the goals.

“Maintaining and extending the pace of progress in all regions and sectors will require stronger political commitment, long-term energy planning, increased private financing and adequate policy and fiscal incentives to spur faster deployment of new technologies,” the report added.

The report tracks global, regional and country progress on the three targets of SDG7, namely access to energy and clean cooking, renewable energy and energy efficiency and identifies priorities for action and best practices that have proven successful in helping policymakers, and development partners understand what is needed to overcome challenges.

On access to electricity, the report pointed out that “following a decade of steady progress, the global electrification rate reached 89 percent and 153 million people gained access to electricity each year.

“However, the biggest challenge remains in the most remote areas globally and in sub-Saharan Africa where 573 million people still live in the dark.

“To connect the poorest and hardest to reach households, off-grid solutions, including solar lighting, solar home systems and increasingly mini grids will be crucial. Globally, at least 34 million people in 2017 gained access to basic electricity services through off-grid technologies.”

The report also reinforces the importance of reliability and affordability for sustainable energy access.