Bringing back lessons from Sri Lanka - Renewable energy tech for Ethiopia

Facilitating South-South Trilateral Cooperation (China, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia)

July 31, 2024

a group of people standing in front of a crowd

UNDP Ethiopia staff were recently in Sri Lanka to participate in a strategic steering committee meeting on biogas, biomass and solar south-south trilateral cooperation. The meeting brough together representatives from the governments of China, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia, as well as UNDP staff from the three countries. UNDP-Ethiopia delegation was led by the Deputy Resident Representative for Programme, Ms Charu Bist.

Lessons from Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has also set ambitious renewable energy targets, aiming to achieve net-zero carbon status by 2050 and generate 70% of our electricity from renewables by 2030. With the support of UNDP, the Sri Lankan government has developed a Carbon Net Zero 2050 Roadmap and a Strategic Plan. These initiatives set the stage for our transition towards net-zero pathways and propose climate actions to achieve this national commitment.

Despite significant progress in utilizing renewable energy resources in recent decades, Sri Lanka still has substantial untapped renewable energy potential. The country is blessed with abundant renewable resources such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, which can be effectively harnessed to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

UNDP is currently supporting the government in developing the first-ever Integrated National Financing Framework for a Just Energy Transition. We hope this framework will serve as a platform to clearly identify financing gaps and opportunities, thus attracting much-needed investment streams to achieve our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) targets in the energy sector.

The UNDP's Biogas, Biomass, and Solar Trilateral Project exemplifies the success of South-South and triangular cooperation in promoting innovative development solutions and fostering transformative change towards net-zero development pathways. This type of cooperation accelerates and multiplies sustainable development.

Sri Lanka is currently facing its worst economic crisis since independence, which has also led to an energy crisis, compounding the hardships faced by many families, particularly in rural and urban poor communities. The agricultural sector has been hit hard, affecting farmer communities, especially women and young farmers, and compromising their human security and resilience.

In this context, the South-South Cooperation Project has supported Sri Lanka's national targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions by demonstrating the potential of biogas, biomass, and solar technologies in the agricultural sector. This intervention has greatly supported vulnerable farmer communities in Sri Lanka, enabling them to secure a sustainable income through the transfer of renewable energy technologies.

The project spanned five provinces, providing over 233 beneficiaries including 80 women and 200 vulnerable groups with 262 solar-powered renewable energy technology applications. These included solar PV systems, solar-powered greenhouses, cold rooms, solar-powered aerators for shrimp farms, solar-powered sprayers, solar animal repeller and solar insect traps.

Key outcomes of the project included the development of an Energy Data Management System (EDMS) to monitor energy savings from these RETs with the support of the Sri Lanka Sustainable Energy Authority (SLSEA); the distribution of IT equipment among the 5 provinces for data collection and updating EDMS; development and handing over of 5 Provincial Energy Plans for the agriculture sector for the Eastern, North-Western, Northern, Southern and Uva provinces.

a man wearing a suit and tie — Dr. Sulakshana Jayawardena, Secretary, Ministry of Power & Energy, Sri Lanka - "We are looking forward to deeper and larger opportunities to cooperate with the global South in our journey of national development. This pilot project clearly showed the greater mutual understanding of partners and brought experience from China on renewable energy technologies and provided opportunities for Sri Lanka to exchange ideas and lessons learned with China and Ethiopia. We foresee the ever-broadening space for South-South cooperation in our accelerated energy transition programme launched to reach carbon neutrality."

a man holding a sign — Mr. Mamush Hailu, representing the Ministry of Water and Energy of Ethiopia (MoWE) - “The Project plays a key role in the adoption of renewable energy technologies in Ethiopia, particularly in biogas, biomass, and solar PV technologies, and seeks to build a successful case for medium-scale and integrated renewable energy systems through pilot and demonstration projects for productive uses. We believe that this approach is transformative - by providing reliable and sustainable access to energy, we can help communities thrive and empower individuals to realize their full potential.”

a man standing in front of a laptop — Mr. Chen Qizhen, Deputy Director General, ACCA21 - “Throughout the project implementation, we not only shared advanced technologies and experiences in the field of renewable energy with our partners, promoting technology transfer and innovation, but also jointly explored new paths to address energy poverty and advance green, low-carbon development. From solar energy, and biogas, to biomass energy, and from technical training to the construction of project demonstration sites, every step reflects the dedication and wisdom of all experts and representatives involved. Each achievement stands as a testament to our collective commitment to pursuing a green future.”

Prioritising investments in renewable energy for Ethiopia

Around 600 million people in Africa are estimated to be without access to electricity, while over one billion do not have access to clean cooking facilities.

Ethiopia ranks third among Sub-Saharan African countries facing electricity access deficits. Only around 35 percent of its population is connected to on-grid electrification, with an additional 13 percent utilizing off-grid pre-electrification, resulting in a combined electricity access rate of 48 percent.

Addressing these energy disparities will enhance social equality, particularly for vulnerable populations and women, and improve access to essential services, education, health and information.

UNDP facilitating south-south cooperation

UNDP is dedicated to increasing clean and affordable energy access for 500 million people in Africa by 2025, accelerating the transition to renewable energy through systemic changes that lead to inclusive green economies.

In Ethiopia, UNDP's five-year country programme (2020-2025) has identified access to affordable, clean, and renewable energy as one of the key priorities for support to help Ethiopia's transition to a jobs-rich and green inclusive economy.

Over 800,000 households (around 4.1 million people) have been targeted to access sustainable energy technologies through UNDP's supported projects with implementation led by the Government of Ethiopia, and in partnership with the Global Environment Facility (GEF), south-south trilateral cooperation with China and Sri Lanka, and other partners.

Through the south-south trilateral cooperation project, UNDP sought to showcase successful medium-scale and integrated renewable energy systems in Ethiopia through pilot and demonstration projects.

With this, the project is piloting biogas and solar energy solutions to support energy access in Harari region, and South Ethiopia and Sidama regions of Ethiopia.

Solar technologies to enhance education: The project has installed 9Kw stand-alone solar energy systems in three schools in rural Ethiopia. Over 2,000 students and staff members (25% of them are disabled) can access electricity for e-teaching, computer usage, and improved services.

Key figures

Annual Energy Savings (Electricity): 118,260 kWh
Annual Electricity Cost Savings: 262,800 ETB
Annual GHG emissions reduction: 13.505tCO2eq
A GHG abatement potential of approximately 337.625tCO2eq over its 25-year life cycle

2. Solar energy to enhance water supply and irrigation: A 90kW solar-powered irrigation system is being installed to support 500 smallholder farmers in the Hawassa Zuria District in Sidama region, to enhance agricultural productivity on 50 hectares of fertile land.

Key figures

Annual Energy Savings (Electricity): 312,440 kWh
Annual Cost Savings: 9,861,120ETB
Annual GHG emissions reduction: 329.115tCO2eq.
GHG abatement potential of approximately 8,227.872tCO2eq over its 25-year life cycle

3. Biogas plant for sustainable energy: A 300 m3 institutional biogas plant is almost completed at Wolaita Sodo University in South Ethiopia, expected to benefit over 46,000 students and staff. Thisintervention places particular emphasis on mitigating the detrimental effects of air pollution resulting from open fires and alleviating the health and workload challenges faced by female-led staff members who serve as cooks within the university cafeteria.

Key figures

Annual Energy Savings (Electricity): 87,600 kWh
Annual Cost Savings: 12,950,000ETB.
Annual GHG emissions reduction: 4,958.160TCO2eq.
GHG abatement potential of approximately 148,744.8tCO2eq over its 30-year life cycle

Way Forward

Access to affordable energy is one of the six transitions identified by the UN for investments to deliver on the sustainable development goals.

The south-south trilateral cooperation has a strong potential for scale up to ambitiously support Ethiopia's energy and climate agenda. Learnings from the project demos can be used to improve planning and implementation. Financing will also be explored to scale up demonstration or renewable energy tech that could address affordability and productivity. Financial institutions and the private sector can be engaged to partner on this initiative. Another area for further engagement will also be looking at promoting adaptive research to customise renewable energy technolgies for ease of use by women.