Rethinking Power

Escom is the major energy service provider in Malawi.  Similar institutions exist all over Southern Africa.

In Malawi, we used to have a saying: “Escom – Power All Day, Every Day… Someday.”

Access to reliable power is remarkably rare.  Only 10% of the population has access to power at all.  Power cuts, particularly in the rainy season (December through March) are the norm.   Regular rolling blackouts are tolerated, and alternative sources of energy (coal fueled stoves) and activities (going to the field rather than writing reports on a computer at best, but more likely chatting with colleagues and moving around the town) are always available.

Imagine someone in your office building randomly turned on and off the main fuse box without warning and for unknown periods of time.  Imagine that happens for months on end.  Now imagine trying to work, to cook for your family, to not use coal (it’s illegal)…  It’s difficult isn’t it?

A similar situation exists in Ghana.  In the capital, Accra, offices and homes have resorted to buying generators when they can afford it.  As opposed to electric stoves in Malawi, gas stoves are the norm.  (Although when gas runs short as it did last week, the cues to refill your taxi or your gas-cooker tank are unbelievable).

So why does this keep happening?  The reasons are complex and numerous.  These are a few.

Infrastructure, in general, is insufficient, poor and poorly maintained.  Malawi’s energy is drawn mainly from hydro-power based on a few damns located around the country, as is Ghana’s.  This is certainly a more environmentally friendly option than a dozen coal fired plants.  (Incidentally, the coal-fired power stations that do exist are usually single-cycle-turbines, which in case you are not an engineer, is using massively inefficient outdated technology.)  But these hydro-power stations are old and likely to face troubles as huge flood waters fill the damns during the torrential rainy season and carry farm debris along with the rushing water into the turbines.  Furthermore, even if they worked perfectly, there are simply not enough of them to meet the country’s growing energy demands.

Increasing energy demands as populations migrate to the urban centers and as rural districts connect puts further strain on an already burdened system.

Pricing schemes that pass the increasing cost of operation onto the consumer (thereby leaving out a good part of the population that simply can’t afford to pay for the rising cost of energy) exacerbates the problem.  Escom clearly needs funding to improve and/or expand their energy provision, but having fewer people pay more (and losing the lower income customers) hardly makes sense in an agricultural based nation where access to funds are scarce and barter economies still dominate rural areas.

Corruption (or at least the accusations of it) plague Escom and infuriate Malawians who see their access to power cut while executives enjoy expensive Christmas parties.

What to do?  I think a lot of things will need to change before access to power improves in Malawi and in Ghana.  Addressing the concerns above is a good place to start.  Diversifying the nations’ energy sources and investing in infrastructure is essential.  Renewable energy sources are well positioned to take off if the initial cost was reduced or deemed an essential expense.  Some of this is already happening; wind power has been making headlines in Malawi (although an isolated event), solar energy should be viable (it’s insanely sunny in most of Ghana).  Pricing schemes that are realistic based on the population and situation would assist to drastically improve ability to access power.

Unfortunately, it’s still not so simple.  Investment in energy sources requires finance, and if that finance is not coming from the population (either in tax or paying for the cost of energy), then the financial burden must be transferred elsewhere, which is currently scarce.

Growth requires energy; it always has.  As Malawi and Ghana’s economies try and grow, as new technologies such as air conditioners, televisions and radio stations expand their market (which they are), these nations will need more power not less.  It’s time to start rethinking power.