Page 5 - AfrElec Week 25 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

attractiveness of capital-intensive clean technol-
ogies. Much more needs to be done, including energy prices.
by international development institutions, to The EU, for example, has in many ways fol-
boost investment levels in Africa and Asia and lowed the example of the IEA by pushing for-
to bridge widening regional divergences in the ward its Green Deal and Fit for 55 programmes,
pace of energy transition investment. which aim to radically restructure Europe’s
energy systems in the long term, while also
Fossil Fuels reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030.
The most worrying fact in the report is that However, some national governments are
investment in coal rose by 10% in 2021, driven backsliding. Hungary has led opposition to an
by emerging economies in Asia such as Indo- EU ban on fossil fuel imports from Russia. Ger-
nesia, the Philippines and India, with a similar many was the slowest to support a gradual ban
increase likely in 2022. on gas, and it has had to switch back on some of
China offers contrasting developments. It has its shuttered coal-fired power plants.
pledged to stop building coal-fired power plants The German government on June 23 that
abroad, but a significant amount of new coal despite its decision to rely more on coal for elec-
capacity is coming onto the Chinese domestic tricity generation until 2024, it would still meet
market. its target date for a complete coal exit of 2030.
Meanwhile, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has Germany’s decision to power up its coal power
both pushed up energy prices for consumers plants came after Gazprom cut deliveries to Ger-
and businesses and prompted importers to seek many via the Nord Stream gas pipeline earlier in
alternative sources of gas, especially from the June.
LNG market. Russia has cut capacity through the main pipe-
Also, while oil and gas investment is up 10% line to Germany by 60% since last week, claiming
from last year, it remains well below 2019 levels. EU sanctions have caused maintenance prob-
The report concluded today’s oil and gas lems, the Financial Times reported.
spending is caught between two visions of the The IEA report also pinpointed the fact that
future. It is still way too high for a pathway investment in critical minerals, crucial for a
aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5°C. range of renewable technology, was growing.
On the other hand, it not high enough to satisfy Higher and more diversified investment is
rising demand in a scenario where governments needed to curb today’s price pressures and cre-
stick with today’s policy settings and fail to ate more resilient clean energy supply chains.
deliver on their climate pledges. Put simply, gov- Worldwide exploration spending rose 30% in
ernment cannot just continue invest as they have 2021, with the increase in the US, Canada and
been doing. There needs to be radical changes to Latin America offering the prospect of more
meet demand for energy while grappling with diversified supply in the years ahead.™

Week 25 23•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5