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Date: 06/03/2006
Source: Department of Minerals and Energy
Title: Hendricks: African Ministerial Conference on Hydropower and Sustainable Development


  Keynote address at an African Ministerial Conference on Hydropower and Sustainable Development by Mrs Lindiwe Hendricks, Minister of Minerals and Energy, Sandton Convention Centre

Programme Director
Representatives of the African Union and NEPAD,
Representatives of the Regional Economic
Communities of Africa,
Representatives of AMCOW (African Ministerial Council of Water), AFREC and FEMA,
Representatives from Civil Society, industry and government, and
Representatives from the UN, World Bank and donor countries
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

It is an honour for me to deliver this keynote address at the opening session of this Conference on Hydropower and Sustainable Development. During the first two days, delegates and officials will bring together their opinions, views and knowledge after which we will be joined by over 30 Ministers from other African countries.

In addition to officials from the water and energy sectors, we are joined by representatives from sectors that form part of the six main themes of our conference that of social, environment, economic, financial, natural resources and human resources. I welcome all of you and look forward to your deliberations on how we integrate all of these themes for the development of our hydropower potential in Africa.

African Economic growth and energy

Programme director, at this very exciting occasion, I am proud of what we are starting to achieve in Africa through our co-operation and through the development of innovative ways to manage the scarce resources of our continent to create a better life for our people.

It is increasingly becoming necessary for us to come together and collectively solve the development challenges that face our continent.

If one considers the benefits that arise from access to energy cooking, heating, lighting, water pumping, transport, job creation and more; as well as the difficulties faced by the poor who spend a disproportionate amount of time, effort and resources accessing energy services; we can see the need to expand the coverage of energy provision throughout the continent.

Energy contributes to all three pillars of sustainable development (economic, social and environmental) and plays a crucial role in helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Without a doubt energy is a key driver of and contributor towards growth and development, and therefore needs to be integrated into the development process early on, which requires co-ordination between ministries, government departments, and countries.

Furthermore, an inadequate provision of energy has the potential to put a brake on economic development and economic expansion. With the majority of African countries achieving significantly faster levels of economic growth over the past few years, the provision of sufficient energy is becoming a priority. Consequently, African countries will need to review their integrated resource plans and plan for new generation capacity to ensure that we do not run out of excess electricity capacity. Firm decisions will need to be made on power stations and energy sources which will be required in the next few years, be they coal fired, open cycle gas turbine or renewable energy, such as hydropower and solar energy.

Programme director, as energy is a key input into industry it plays a critical role in Africa’s development process, and the cost of energy can directly affect the competitiveness of enterprises. In making our decisions on energy sources we must balance issues of cost and environment.

Renewable Energy

Ladies and Gentlemen, while energy is essential for economic growth and social equity, is also associated with air pollution and other damage to health and the environment. It has been argued that in the next 50 years the constraints and challenges to the energy system over will not be due to depletion of fossil fuel reserves, but rather to the environmental, social and geopolitical issues raised by energy production and consumption patterns.

According to the International Energy Agency world energy consumption has increased significantly since 1992, and forecasts indicate that it will continue to increase at a rate of two per cent per year to 2020. There are some improvements in the energy mix expected, such as increased use of natural gas, a slowdown in the growth of coal consumption, and increased use of renewable energy, which is projected to account for three percent of total energy use in 2020, compared to the current two per cent. However, the overall projected increase in energy use to 2020 will result in increasing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution, unless major efforts are made to change the trends.

Appropriate policies and measures that can promote sustainable production and consumption of energy to support economic and social development in a most efficient manner must be developed. Efforts to promote sustainable energy include shifting from coal and oil to natural gas, developing renewable energy sources and advanced fossil fuel technologies, and adopting more efficient technologies. Many governments have introduced national policies to promote renewable energy sources, including economic incentives, research and development, improvement of institutional capabilities and innovative financing and credit mechanisms. Several countries have adopted regulatory measures, investment portfolio standards and non-fossil fuel obligations for electric utilities to promote renewable energy. However, renewable energy use remains low.

Significant progress has been made in developing and applying advanced fossil fuel technologies toward the long term goal of near zero emissions of air pollution, including greenhouse gases. The efficiency with which energy is used in industrial production as well as in lighting, household appliances, transportation, and heating and cooling of buildings has also improved. However, these efficiency gains have been offset by increases in the volume of production and consumption.

Measures to improve efficient production and use of energy for sustainable development should be coupled with steps to enhance access to affordable commercial energy. There are still over two billion people in developing countries without access to modern energy, a number that has not been reduced despite national grid expansions in recent decades. This challenge needs to be addressed by means of a variety of innovative measures.

Hydropower

Ladies and gentlemen, the South African government felt it important to host this conference on Hydropower so that we can start developing a plan of action to harness the huge potential of hydropower that Africa has and contribute to the provision of affordable, clean energy for Africans.

I believe it is the first time that Ministers of water and Ministers of Energy on the continent of Africa will sit together and deliberation on this issue. The water sector and the energy sector are two distinct sectors; and hydropower, and the potential that it holds, is bringing us together. However, the energy and the water sectors are not only linked by hydropower, indeed the two sectors are closely linked as all forms of energy need water and have an impact on water resources.

Programme director, Africa is lagging behind the rest of the world, both with respect to the development of our energy resources and our water resources. And due to the variation in climate in Africa, both within one year and between years, we can not rely on run of rivers alone for water supply or for hydropower supply. Storage dams will be required for this purpose, which links the issues around hydropower to the debate on dams and development.

I am informed there has been an outcry by the green lobby against any further development of storage dams. While such debates are important one needs to consider the negative impact on Africa of not developing and managing our water and energy resources; as well as the impact of increasing use of fossil fuels for our energy needs.

Ladies and gentlemen, the way forward means looking beyond the technical provision, taking people centred approach and balancing a number of social, environmental and cost factors. The energy that is provided must meet people’s needs. To understand these needs, communities must be given a voice in the decision making process. Local capacity should be built so that people are able to participate fully in decisions about what types of energy services are most appropriate for them. Bottom-up participatory planning increases choices for the poor. Lack of participatory planning can result in a lack of understanding of the local context and situation, lack of institutional infrastructure to regulate and deliver services, and lack of local capacity to install and maintain systems.

A full menu of options should be considered for providing these services: renewable energy sources, traditional biomass and fossil fuels, combined with cleaner, more efficient energy as “one solution does not fit all”. Through better management and regulation of the energy sector in Africa there should be improved access to an increased choice of appropriate, affordable energy services and increased efficiency of energy provision and use.

Conference Background Ladies and gentlemen, before concluding I would like to restate the mandate for this conference, which comes from the United Nations (UN) Symposium on Hydropower and Sustainable Development that took place in July 2004 in Beijing. The outputs of the event in Beijing encouraged an African conference on hydropower. Government representatives of Cameroon, Ethiopia, Uganda, as well as representatives of the African Union gave a clear indication in Beijing of support to such an African conference.

I have been informed by the Substance Committee for this Conference that the proposed objectives for this event is to find ways to unlock the hydropower potential of Africa as a major energy option to promote sustainable development; regional integration; and poverty eradication in Africa, in support of New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD).

To achieve this objective, the conference will need to examine:
* The potential of hydropower to contribute to the objectives of NEPAD;
* The attributes of hydropower compared to other sources of energy in terms of positive and negative impacts relating to environmental, social and economic aspects;
* The impacts of water use for hydropower on other water uses and how hydropower water use can be integrated in other water systems;
* How much hydropower resources have already been developed in Africa and what potential remains for further development;
* The financial, human and technical resources that are needed to further develop hydropower in Africa;
* Options for institutional arrangements for hydropower development in a regional context;

The conference will also be looking at:
* Improving co-operation and co-ordination between Ministers of Energy, Ministers of Water, and Ministers of Development Planning in African countries.
* Developing a conference declaration on hydropower as a major source of renewable energy for the sustainable development of Africa.
* Setting targets to implement the decisions of this Ministerial Conference; and
* Exploring the possibility of an entity to carry forward the outcomes of the Conference.

To conclude we recognise that the potential for hydropower has been limited by a number of factors, be they political, financial, economic or environmental. We strongly believe that we as Africans can, through co-operation, overcome these challenges.

I hope this conference will open the door for greater co-operation between our countries, and that over the next two days you are successful in your deliberations. I look forward to hearing the outcomes of your deliberations when they are tabled at the Ministerial meeting on Wednesday. Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Minerals and Energy
6 March 2006
   

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