Solar has been hailed as one of the breakthrough solutions that will drive economic development in Africa. Experts have identified stand-alone solar as a cost-effective solution to the electrification challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where 548 million people still live without electricity [1]. In recognition of this, governments in countries like Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia and Malawi have added solar home systems (SHS) to their national electrification plans. Some of these governments have gone ahead to roll out programmes like the Solar Naija that aims to reach 5 million people with SHS and promote local assembly for the same.

The largest addressable markets for SHS in SSA are found in Nigeria and Ethiopia where 77 million and 60 million people respectively, do not have access to electricity. Other significant markets are found in Tanzania – 35 million people and Uganda – 32 million people, who lack electricity [2]. The total unelectrified population for Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe stands at 51 million people.
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Despite these prospects, the stand-alone solar sector, like all other sectors, was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Sales for SHS in different SSA countries dropped by 28% – 49% between December 2019 and June 2020. In Senegal, the decrease was mainly on cash sales while pay-as-you-go (PAYG) remained stable. Due to measures put in place to contain the pandemic, economic activity in SSA was projected to decline by 3.3% in 2020. The World Bank estimates that 40 million people are likely to slide into extreme poverty in Africa [3]. This means the progress that had been made with energy access in the continent will be affected and the number of people who cannot afford SAS will increase. Consequently, governments, investors, and development partners need to collaborate to address the affordability constraints for consumers and avail relief funding for SAS companies [4],[5].

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​In order to address the issue of shack fires, mostly caused by burning candles or faulty electrical connections, a young Namibian entrepreneur established Mushi BioPower Solar Namibia, a company that offers solar-powered electrical equipment.
The company’s founder and CEO Pontianus Mukishi (35) told Youth Corner he brought the services and products closer to informal settlements and rural communities who need it most.

“I am passionate about helping Namibians and enabling them to get access to clean light – and that is the way to go right now. Every person should have access to clean light and we should do away with burning houses. What’s even better is there is minimal spending if they buy the available products; they get to save money for a long time,” highlighted Mukishi.

The shop, which was launched on Saturday, is situated in the heart of the Goreangab residential area in the Samora Machel constituency.
Products include solar panels, lamps, batteries, cables, connectors, streetlights, and systems that can operate fridges, radios televisions and fans.

The shop comes at an opportune time when Namibia aims to produce 70% of its energy from renewable energy sources by 2030.
With an average of 10 hours of sunshine per day, Namibia is one of the world’s sunniest countries that have enormous potential for solar energy, yet 60% of the country’s energy is imported from neighbouring countries – and 40% of its population is disconnected from the grid.
Before roping in other youths, Mushi did pilots of the project in Katima Mulilo, Rundu, Ondangwa and Omuthiya.
“We understood what the people needed; that’s how we decided to also come to the city, where we established an office in Goreangab,” he explained.

Other youthful members of the team are Agnes Erasmus, Martha Fernandes and head of operations Kristian Nantinda.
“The education campaign is important; you need to know how to manoeuvre and it’s only this year we decided to fully introduce the product to the potential consumers. It’s a new product,” added Nantinda.

In a speech read on his behalf, councillor of Samora Machel Nestor Kalola said the project came at the right time, encouraging the use of solar products to minimise damages caused by fire.

 Kalola could not attend the launch because he had to inspect a burning shack in the Havana informal settlement. 
Shack fires have been making headlines in the past years, with causes being mainly attributed to the use of candles and other unsafe lighting systems in the informal settlements. 

“Our office always receives calls and messages of burning shacks in the area. Opening this establishment and offering such products comes at the right time, as it is a way of contributing to the development of the community and it addresses something that hugely affects the youth – unemployment. So, I am happy that this is happening, expressed Kalola.
- psiririka@nepc.com.na

It's now clear that renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification must be the drivers of the deep decarbonization we need.
New analysis from IRENA finds that renewables are now the cheapest form of energy - and capacity is set to rise significantly over the next few decades.
Addressing climate change requires us to decarbonize both energy supply and demand by 2050. The US, Europe and China have committed to net zero or carbon neutrality by mid-century. Others are following suit. This will have a profound effect on the global energy transition, placing electricity as a key vector in decarbonizing the entire energy sector.

The latest insights from IRENA’s World Energy Transitions Outlook were released on 16 March at the Berlin Energy Transitions Dialogue. It provides in-depth analysis of what these effects will look like, starting from the Paris Climate agreement objective of limiting climate change to well below 2˚C and with an effort for 1.5˚C by the end of this century. While several options are being considered for a deep decarbonization, it is clear that renewable energy, energy efficiency and electrification are at the centre of the global energy transition.

While climate change mitigation is a powerful driver behind the shift away from fossil fuel-based power generation, this is not the only driver. At the same time, renewable power has become the cheapest form of electricity generation and the costs continue to fall thanks to improvements in technology and economies of scale. The share of renewable power continue to rise from year to year, with nearly 30% renewables in the global power mix at present and renewables dominating yearly capacity additions (see Figure 1, below).

The operation of power systems with a high share of variable renewables requires much higher flexibility. Today, dispatchable fossil plants (that is, plants that can genereta electricity on demand) provide that flexibility, but this will change going forward as their role declines. IRENA has identified 30 options for increasing flexibility across four main pillars: hardware, markets and regulations, and operational practices and business models (see figure 2, below). This toolkit of options must be deployed in the context of each power system’s specific characteristics. Especially the demand side offers interesting possibilities, as the electrification trend results in new loads connected to the system -such as electric vehicles, behind-the-meter batteries and heat pumps- which if operated smartly can support grid balancing. This is helped by rapid digitalization of power systems. Time-of-use pricing, aggregators, Demand Side Management are some of the strategies that benefit from digitalization and smart grids continue to expand worldwide. Still many transmission and distribution grids will require expansion and upgrading in order to deal with the new power system realities.

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DURBAN - Postgraduate students from universities across Africa have been called to showcase their skills and present innovations that could help develop the power and energy sector.

The Initiate Young Talent Challenge, a project from Clarion Events in partnership with the Enlit Africa event, will give postgraduate students a chance to exhibit their skills during a digital conference in June.
The exhibition will take place from June 8 to 9 this year.
“This is their chance to disrupt the industry with innovative and new ways of thinking. This is a unique not-to-be-missed opportunity to not only shape their future but also to start establishing a sound and professional personal brand, taking their careers to the next level,” said Nazlee Fredericks, leader of the Initiate project, in a statement over the weekend.
Initiate has partnered with many organisations including the BRICS Youth Energy Agency, University of Cape Town, Stellenbosch University, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, the South African Renewable Energy Business Incubator, South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and the Circle of Global Business Women (CGBW).

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Interested student participants can apply online before being vetted by an advisory board and an expert panel of judges from the industry.
“The top selections will then go through to the final round of challenges that takes place during the Enlit Africa digital event from 8 to 10 June,” Fredericks explained.
Winners of the event will be awarded a mentorship programme from industry experts, as well as access to an executive network within the industry.
PhD candidate at UCT and former finalist of the Initiate programme Carol Ngwenya said that the project provides a much-needed opportunity for those looking to get ahead in the energy sector.
“The Initiate Young Talent Challenge not only challenges you to come up with practical energy solutions to the energy crisis that the continent is faced with,” Ngwenya said.
During the previous Initiate Young Talent Challenge in May 2019, a team of four Kenyan students took first prize with their innovative product called Kijiji, a solar-powered container producing essential services and empowering rural communities.

The Initiate Digital Exhibition Hub has also given small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) a chance to showcase their development of products in the energy sector.

There are currently 10 spaces available for SMMEs and they, too, can apply for entrance online.

“We’re looking for fresh faces, fresh ideas and lots of talent,” Fredericks said.

The Minerals Council South Africa (MCSA) supports further regulatory reforms to streamline the process of regulatory approval and licensing of self-generation electricity projects from a ‘red tape’ situation towards a ‘smart tape’ situation that will enable shorter timelines and a less bureaucratic approach. Should we achieve this, then South Africa will see more projects like the 40 MW solar plant that was announced by Gold Fields.

Says Minerals Council CEO, Roger Baxter:
“Since 2008, very rapid increases in electricity prices along with the unreliability of electricity supply have been the two largest contributing factors not only affecting existing large scale mining operations, but also impacting on the downstream processing and ferro-alloy production industries. The critical question is – what are we doing to encourage self-generation in the country and the economy?”

Self-generation projects have the potential to contribute significantly towards easing electricity supply constraints in South Africa while at the same time improving the competitiveness of the mining sector by reducing the cost of electricity and the industry’s carbon footprint.

Currently, 17 self-generation projects with capacity to generate 2.4 GW of electricity, at various stages of completion within the regulatory process, are underway by Minerals Council members. Of these, 12 projects with capacity to generate 1.6 GW of electricity are renewable self-generation projects. It is estimated that these projects could come online within the next 18 to 36 months.

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Since 2019, significant progress has been made to unlock the regulatory environment and enable self-generation of electricity. The Minerals Council continues to engage constructively with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), NERSA and Eskom on those constraints that delay the execution of self-generation projects.

The Minerals Council has made the following recommendations to the DMRE to streamline the regulatory process to enable additional self-generation:

Establish a “one-stop-shop” mechanism coordinated by the DMRE to accelerate licensing of private sector generation for own use. The process should be streamlined, and all licensing should be approved within 90 days with progress reported to Cabinet.
Increase the cap from 10 MW to 50 MW on Schedule 2 self-generation licences.
Introduce licensing lite to make provision for small self-generation plants which currently undergo the same licensing process as large coal fired power stations.
Take economies of scale into consideration.
Address other potential constraints involving various government authorities that could cause delays.
Address wheeling as reaching agreement often is a long and drawn out process with charges sometimes rendering projects uneconomical.
Develop a flow diagram to outline the full licensing process to enable IPPs to plan accordingly and ensure accountability.
“We welcome the efforts of the DMRE to engage constructively with the industry on ways to streamline the regulatory approval process for self-generation projects. We support the increase in the Schedule 2 licence cap from 10 MW to 50 MW which will allow for more than 5,000 MW of electricity generation to be freed up which will go a long way in easing the electricity supply constraints in South Africa impacting all aspects of the economy,” concluded Mr Baxter.

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Diversified miner Exxaro Resources has elected the group’s climate change specialist Dr Lerato Khumalo as vice-chairperson for the Industry Task Team on Climate Change (ITTCC).

The voluntary, non-profit association comprises several local energy-intensive companies across different business sectors, including the likes of Exxaro, Sasol and Anglo American, which collaborate to reduce South Africa’s carbon footprint.
The ITTCC works with government departments, trade associations and social partners to develop practical solutions for climate change mitigation, supporting the country’s gradual transition into a lower carbon, resource-efficient economy.

Khumalo recently completed her PhD in Chemical Technology at the University of Pretoria, focusing on the characterisation of atmospheric pollutants found in areas near opencast coal mining and other industrial activities. She began her career as an environmental specialist at a consultancy firm while completing her Master’s degree.
​Khumalo has since shifted her focus to strategy and business transformation, which she believes are critical given global climate change concerns and how these affect businesses and society.

She believes that environmental, social and governance issues are connected to every element of a business and should be integrated into all departments and operations. With her help, the resources company has laid a foundation for this integration.

With her appointment to the task team, Khumalo intends to address the Change Coordinating Commission – a crucial national advisory body in this space. 

Both the ITTCC and Exxaro conduct targeted work to educate communities on environmental challenges, and Khumalo believes that this is essential if the company is to take personal responsibility and work together to drive positive change.

​“Educational awareness campaigns for employees and societies are vital to empower citizens with the knowledge they need to understand these pressing issues and the role that each one of us can play to mitigate climate change.”

After the first Russia-Africa summit held in Sochi, authorities have been moving to build on this new chapter of Russia‘s relations with African countries. As set in the joint declaration, the two sides have outlined comprehensive goals and tasks for the further development of Russia-Africa cooperation in significant areas including science and technology.

Business interest in Africa is steadily increasing and Russian companies, among them Rosatom, are ready to work with African partners. It is largely acknowledged that energy (construction and repair of power generation facilities as well as in peaceful nuclear energy and the use of renewable energy sources) is an important area of the economic cooperation between Russia and Africa.

Ryan Collyer is the Regional Vice-President of Rosatom for Sub-Saharan Africa, and his key responsibilities include overseeing, implementing and managing all Russian nuclear projects in Sub-Sahara African region. In this insightful and wide-ranging interview with Kester Kenn Klomegah early April 2021, Ryan Collyer discusses efforts toward providing nuclear power, training of nuclear specialists, the main challenges and the future plans for Africa.

Even before the first Russia-Africa summit held in October 2019, several African countries have shown a keen interest in building nuclear power plants. What is the current situation (overview) moving from mere interest to realizing concrete results in Africa?

It is important to note that nuclear is not new to Africa and Africa is not new to nuclear. South Africa has successfully operated Safari 1 research reactor for over 55 years and Koeberg nuclear power plant for over three decades. At one point, South Africa was the second-largest exporter of the life-saving medical isotope, Molybdenum 99, in the world. There are also currently research reactors in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, and Ghana.

Another source is the cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Thanks to that, many countries like Benin, Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and others benefit from modern nuclear technologies applications in healthcare and agriculture. In Zambia, a cancer disease hospital received much-needed support, and now over 20,000 patients have been diagnosed and treated at the hospital. Benin’s soybean farmers could triple their income using the benefits of nuclear irradiation. In Tanzania, its island of Zanzibar became tsetse-free thanks to the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT).

Many other African countries are already working on joining the atomic club in one form or another, whether it be the construction of a Nuclear Power Plant or a research reactor or the development of nuclear infrastructure or the training of professional personnel. In this undertaking, Russia is a trusted partner for many. We have signed intergovernmental agreements in the peaceful use of atomic energy with Algeria (2014), Ghana (2015), Egypt (2015), Ethiopia (2019), Republic of Congo (2019), Nigeria (2012, 2016), Rwanda (2018), South Africa (2004), Sudan (2017), Tunisia (2016), Uganda (2019) and Zambia (2016). Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed with Kenya in 2016 and Morocco in 2017
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South Africa is once more experiencing periodic power cuts. These typically take the form of scheduled supply interruptions, for two to four hours a day, whenever the country’s electricity system is overloaded. Such overloading currently happens on 40-50 days a year.

Eskom, the country’s power utility, recently admitted that such interruptions are likely to persist for as long as the next five years. This is because of the increased down-time of the rapidly ageing fleet of coal plants. But it is also due to delays in setting up new power plants.

The decreasing performance of the existing Eskom plants is evident in the steady decline of the energy availability factor. This is a measure of the percentage of total electricity generated compared to what would be achieved when every plant was functioning. The energy availability factor is currently at about 65%. This means that on average 35% of Eskom’s power plants are standing idle at any particular time due to faults or maintenance.

In his 2021 State of the Nation Address President Cyril Ramaphosa offered an action plan to develop additional power generation capacity in the short to medium term. While these interventions are indeed critical, they don’t go far enough to reach power stability.

Emergency power provision
The government has since announced eight successful bidders for gas, wind and solar projects under the 2,000 megawatt Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. In theory, bidders are required to be able to generate electricity by August 2022. But given that solar and wind farms typically take two years to become operational, the stipulated roll-out time is too short. Most of these projects will only be supplying the grid in 2023.
The Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme is a mechanism initiated 10 years ago under which private developers competitively bid for the rights to construct new electricity generating plants and then sell the electricity to Eskom at predetermined rates.
The programme successfully established South Africa’s renewable energy sector through three bid windows. But it stalled after 2015 when these new technologies began to threaten the interests of politically well connected interest groups in the coal and nuclear sectors. Projects for a fourth bid window finally received clearance in 2018 following the departure of former president Jacob Zuma, but enthusiasm for renewables has waned again under the current Minister of Mineral Resources, Gwede Mantashe.
The long awaited fifth round has just been announced after inexplicable delays. Prospective solar and wind farm developers have until August 2021 to submit bids for projects generating in total 1,600 MW of wind and 1,000 MW of solar capacity.
The successful bidders may be announced before the end of the year, but will need to demonstrate financial closure before starting to construct facilities. Renewable builds typically take about two years to complete. This means the round 5 projects are likely to come into operation only in 2024. That is two years later than set out by the 2019 national electricity plan.
The 2,600 MW added to the system in round 5 are with intermittent technologies. They only function when the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. They will therefore only be adding, on average, slightly under 1,000 MW. That’s too little to overcome the existing power deficit.
Future procurement roundsThe last (2019) instalment of the South African Integrated Resource Plan for Electricity envisaged between 1,600 MW and 2,600 MW of renewable capacity added to the grid almost every year from 2022 to 2030. With the existing delay, the process to effect upcoming annual additions must be accelerated.
But an early catch-up is unlikely, because the minister only committed to one further renewables round, of the same scale, “within the next 12 months”. It’s therefore expected that future rounds will only happen annually, with no more that 2,600 MW being rolled out each time.
At that rate the wind and solar power contributions to South Africa’s electricity will remain below 10% of the national total for several more years. Renewables won’t make a decisive impact to alleviate the country’s power shortage for at least five years.
More gas, coal and nuclear?In addition to the emergency and new renewable rounds, Minister Mantashe has also announced that procurement for 1,500 MW of new coal plants and 3,000 MW of gas plants will begin soon.
In view of their role in global warming, sentiment against new coal plants is now so strong that investment in such projects is extremely unlikely. Nuclear plants are not seen favourably globally either because of their high building costs and a reputation for severe construction delays. Gas is viewed as more attractive, but is an expensive energy source that is mainly envisaged as a backup for emergency situations.
None of these technologies offer rapid solutions.
The small-scale optionIt’s not expected that sufficient alternative power sources will be operational until about 2026. Power cuts look set to stay for the coming years.
On the positive side, this is likely to act as a catalyst for growth in small to medium scale solar installations. These may take the form of domestic rooftop installations or even mini power plants on the roofs of shopping malls or adjacent to mines and industrial plants. Municipalities will also soon be able to set up their local power generation facilities.
So some may escape the power cuts earlier – but investment in such solutions is only for those who can afford it.

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Sporadic scheduled power cuts have been sprung on South Africans for over a decade and serve as a reminder that energy sources are finite, but they have helped the country to re-think its energy options.

Scheduled power cuts, termed “load shedding” by energy utility Eskom, come at great economic cost. In 2019 load shedding is estimated to have cost the South African economy between R59-billion and R118-billion, according to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

South Africa’s per capita emission of greenhouse gas is higher than the global average, but with plenty of sunlight and wind in some parts of the country, which provide alternatives to the burning of fossil fuels, this problem could be addressed while South Africa’s growing energy needs are met.

Tobias Bischof-Niemz, engineer and author of the book South Africa’s Energy Transition, told a Sanedi panel discussion on the sidelines of the Mining Indaba in 2019 that South Africa has a competitive advantage in renewable energy.


This is because South Africa has superb wind and solar resources and enough land on which to construct plants to harvest them. “These three things give South Africa a huge competitive advantage, which can never be taken away,” he said.

Solar and wind power costs have declined and, although initial costs are higher than for conventional energy sources, in the long run it has become the cheapest option for many countries in terms of new generation. It’s believed that most of the world’s energy will come from solar and wind by 2050. By that time only two coal power stations — Medupi and Kusile — are likely to still be operational in South Africa. This reality is also recognised in the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) for South Africa’s future energy mix.

There is, however, an impression that wind and solar energy is unreliable, but Bischof-Niemz said it is more correct to use the term “variable”. He said: “Wind and solar power is not intermittent. It is variable, it changes over time, and these changes are predictable.”

Energy operators keep an eye on weather forecasts and bring in a flexible power supply such as gas during the times when the other resources are low.ere to edit.

These are the options for renewable energy sources:

Solar

This holds the most potential of all South Africa’s renewable energy sources, as the country receives a lot of sun. It is so rich in solar energy, that compared to countries in Europe, the same plant in South Africa can produce up to 20% more electricity for the same capital investment. This is according to a 2015 paper entitled Renewable Energy Gathers Steam in South Africa by Richard Walwyn and Alan Colin Brent, from Pretoria and Stellenbosch universities respectively.

How it works is that light and heat radiated from the sun is transformed into electricity through photovoltaics, or concentrated solar power.

A solar park has already been built near Kimberley in the Northern Cape, which is set to deliver 180 000 megawatts of solar power every year — enough to power up to 80 000 households.

Wind

This is also a potential major source of energy, especially in Cape Town, which has already built a number of wind farms due to the high wind velocity on the coast. South Africa ranks as having fair to reasonable wind resources on the international scale.

Wind power uses wind turbines which convert the wind into kinetic energy and mechanical power. The turbines have 50-metre-long blades attached to 80 metre-high shafts, on wind turbine farms.

The wind needs to be between 13-90 km/h for the turbines to produce power. These turbines can be offshore or on land, although offshore has stronger winds.

South Africa has 10 major wind power farms and 19 wind energy developments, with more than 600 wind turbines. One of the first farms was near Darling in the Western Cape, which has since 1997 been developed as a national demonstration project.

Hydroelectric power

Hydropower needs flowing water to be turned into energy, and most commonly hydroelectric dams are used for this. Water is then released from the dam, or the reservoir, and that generates electricity.

South Africa has seven hydroelectric power stations but due to a low annual rainfall rate of 500mm, the country’s hydroelectric potential is limited. The Eastern Cape is currently the best region for hydroelectric power.

The dams aren’t only used to generate power, but could also be put to use for irrigation and flood control, which helps to develop the economies around the dam.

This form of power isn’t as environmentally friendly as solar and wind power, especially when done on a large scale, as the large amounts of flowing water can damage the river ecology, and also take up a lot of land space.

South Africa is hoping that the Grand Inga Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo will help supply some of its energy needs, and this is also provided for in the Integrated Resource Plan.

When completed, the Grand Inga will be the largest hydro-electric power generating facility in the world, and will provide energy for much of the region. It will generate more than double the power of the current world record holder, the Three Gorges facility on the Yangtze River in China.

Inga would be a “run-of-the-river” hydroelectric project, which means it needs only a relatively small reservoir to back up the power of the river’s flow.

Even though some environmental pressure groups have cautioned that the project costs will be unaffordable and that other power options should be considered instead, DRC President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo has vowed to push the project forward while he is chair of the African Union.

Biomass

This is the largest renewable energy contributor in South Africa with 9-14% of the energy mix; there are already several biodiesel production facilities. According to the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries the concept of converting biomass to energy “is still at its infancy in South Africa” but holds promise for future sustainable development.

With 42-million hectares of natural woodlands and 1.35-million hectares of plantation there is a large potential for biomass production.

Biomass is generally regarded as any carbon-based material that comes from materials derived from plants and has the capacity to produce electricity, heat or liquid fuels.

It can be used as a direct energy source, such as for heat or cooking fuel, or it can be burned to generate electricity. It can also be used indirectly to produce ethanol, methanol and fuel that can be used for transport and cooking. Most biomass fuel is derived from wood, including tree stumps, forest residue, dead trees and wood chips, but animal and plant matter such as algae can also be used, and so can human and industrial waste.

Producing biofuel from waste could also help municipalities solve the problem of lack of suitable land for new landfills.

Geothermal energy

This is produced by using the heat from the Earth’s crust and converting it into energy. This heat comes from the original formation of the planet and from the radioactive decay of material. South Africa currently has no geothermal energy plants, but there are plans to implement projects. Research has shown that there is high geothermal potential in the country, and the relevant temperatures rank from medium to high on the global scale.

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Spain's new government on Tuesday declared a "climate emergency" and pledged to unveil a draft bill on transitioning to renewable energy within its first 100 days in office.
In a statement announced after the weekly cabinet meeting, the government committed to bringing a draft bill "to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the objective of reaching climate neutrality by 2050" -- effectively net-zero carbon emissions.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's leftwing coalition government, which took office on January 13, also committed to updating the national plan for tackling climate change.

The government has decided to ensure that "climate change and the transition is the cornerstone for all (ministerial) departments and governmental action," spokeswoman Maria Jesus Montero told reporters.

Environment Minister Teresa Ribera said the government had been inspired by French moves to create a public advisory panel "to generate ideas about responding to climate change in an inclusive, consultative way with a special focus on the youth."

Last summer, France announced the creation of a citizens' panel on climate change made up of 150 people who would offer ideas and views on an array of issues touching on climate change "in keeping with the spirit of social justice".

At the end of November, the European Parliament voted to declare a "climate and environment emergency" in a symbolic gesture just ahead of the UN global crisis summit which took place in Madrid last month

The motion urged efforts to ensure the "objective of limiting global warming to under 1.5 degrees C (35.7 degrees Fahrenheit)".

It was followed by similar moves in a number of parliaments across the EU, notably in France, the United Kingdom and in Austria.

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