Challenges of Sustainable Electricity Supply in South Sudan

By Ater Yuot R. Amogpai

South Sudan with population of about 8 million which got its independence by July 9, 2011 is facing challenges to build a strong economy. Industrialization and modernization cannot be achieved without proper access to electricity. Electricity is supplied through diesel powered generators and yet, more than 90% of the South Sudanese people are without access to electricity. Electricity supply is characterized with poor infrastructures, frequent power breaks, lack of spar parts and lack of technical persons. Electrical equipment are brought far distant industrial countries, therefore they are very expensive.

The current installed capacity of electric power is about 26.8 MW in South Sudan. This electric power is divided amongst six of South Sudanese towns: Juba (12 MW), Malakal (4.8 MW), Wau (4 MW), Bor (2 MW), Yambio (2 MW) and Rumbek (2 MW). However, this amount of power needs to be increased to at least 23o MW, said power Engineer at Juba power station. He also added that Juba at the moment needs at least 80 MW whereas, the rest of 5 towns need at least 150 MW, 30 MW per each. Most of these diesel generators are made and brought from Finland. However, some of these generators are not operating due to the technical problems and fuel shortages.

The total electric power required by South Sudan at the moment is estimated to be 450 MW while the electric power required by Juba Town is estimated to be 28 MW. Estimation was made based on population of 8 million living in South Sudan. The assumption was made that the average electric power consumed for one house is around 9 kWh/day, 5 persons per house. This electric power is mainly used to power lights, TVs, fans, refrigerators, washing machines, electric irons, etc. In the coming decades, this amount of electric power might be increasing with population and establishment of new industries.

South Sudan is rich with renewable energy sources such as hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass.Usually, hydropower plants have a low operation cost, however, their initial costs is high. They can be divided into large and small (Mini, Micro, Pico). The capacity of 500 MW and above can be categorized as large, whereas Mini power capacity can be categorized in the range (500kW-10MW), Micro (10kW-500kW), and Pico (<10kW). However, this categorization varied from country to another and it depends on country’s own standards. So far, there are no categorizations for hydropower plants in South.

The potential of hydropower plants capacity is estimated to be 5583 MW in South Sudan. But, there is hydropower plants studied in some of South Sudanese states with installed capacity of about 2777.5 MW. There exist 4 studied hydropower plants in Central Equatoria State: Fula 34 Km from Nimule with installed capacity of 1080 MW, Shukole47 Km from Nimule with installed capacity of291 MW,Lakki71 Km from Nimule with installed capacity of 456 MW and Bedden 136 Km from Nimule with installed capacity of 780 MW.

There areas well other 3 hydropower plants studied: Juba hydropower plant 4.5 Km South of Juba Town with installed capacity of 120 MW. Sue hydropower plant 15 Km west of Wau Town in Western Bahr El-Ghazal State with installed capacity of 25 MW. Kinyeti hydropower plant 65 Km South East of Torit Town in Eastern Equatoria State with installed capacity of 5 MW. There is also hydropower plants studied in Western Equatoria State with installed capacity of 25.5 MW.

The availability of sunlight is around 7 hours/day with radiation on the horizontal surface of about 5 kWh/m2/day in South Sudan. This is the standard radiation level needed for optimization of the photovoltaic (PV) system.  Solar radiation expresses the amount of solar energy falling into a certain area per day. Solar energy is divided into solar photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. A solar PV system converts sunlight directly into electricity, whereas a solar thermal system utilizes sunlight for heating. Solar PV system consists of solar cells, a battery, charger, and inverter. Solar cells are commonly made of silicon material with the efficiency in the range of 6% and 15% with a lifetime of 20 to 30 years. Efficiency is the ability of the silicon martial to convert sunlight directly into electricity. The rated power of PV modules for energy applications generally range from several watts to 200W. PV systems can be built as stand alone solutions in South Sudan. Therefore, batteries are needed to store energy from PV panels during the daytime and used it at night time or rainy day. Electricity from PV system can be used to supply homes, heath centres, and schools, as well as urban buildings without access to electricity.

Wind power is site specific in offshore, high (hills) and in open areas. The annual average wind velocity is about 2.5 m/s in South Sudan compared to standard wind velocity of 5 m/s. Small wind turbines are promising device for electricity generation and pumping water in South Sudan. Small wind turbines can be used to supply residents with electricity and mechanical power. Electricity is used to supply homes, telecommunications, and refrigeration. Mechanical power is used for pumping water and irrigation for small farms. A small wind turbine for pumping water system can use more than twenty blades, whereas a wind turbine used for electrical power generation uses only two or three blades.

Biomass resources are forests, animal wastes, agricultural residues and sugar cane in South Sudan. The total forests area is estimated to be 75 million hectare in South Sudan. Biomass and sugar cane have not yet used for electricity generation. Animal waste in the form of dung is estimated to be 4.5 million tones per year in South Sudan. However, animal waste has not yet used for biogas (Methane) production. Biogas can be used for lighting in the South Sudanese households. Geothermal is also renewable energy sources but there are no studies been conducted to identify theirs sites in South Sudan. Geothermal energy is the heat energy that stored in deep earth and can be used for thermal electricity generation.

South Sudan is an oil production country therefore; crude oil can be used for electricity generation. Crude oil must be treated with thermal cracking process. Thermal cracking is an energy intensive process to make it suitable for electricity generation. Incomplete of crude oil may involve a massive environmental disaster. Crude oil is cheap and easily to access, but transmitting it to point of generating or consumption is costly. For example, you need a pipe line to transmit a crude oil to point of generation in Juba, or transmission lines to transmit generated electricity.  Natural gas can as well be used for electricity generation but no studies are conducted to indentify the amount of natural gas available in South Sudan.

The people of South Sudan cannot be without electricity until the large hydropower plants are built. Those large hydropower plants along the river from Nimuli to Juba may take decades to occur. Therefore, building a medium hydropower plants and solar energy for homes are needed to support the current poor situation of electric power in the country. Building a local hydropower plants with installed capacity of 1 MW up to 25 MW is possible. Such hydropower plants can be built to generate electricity in Torit, Yei, Wau and other similar towns in South Sudan, while government is planning to build a national electricity network (grid). The issue now is the available resources to build such hydropower plants. Investors might be given a priority to build such hydropower plants. Therefore, data and information on hydropower plants sites and their potentials in the country are needed. Unfortunately, such data and information are not provided by local concern authorities such as South Sudan Electricity Corporation (SSEC), universities and others. This is meant that research and development units in SSEC, universities and in other concern bodies need to be established. 

Solar energy for homes needs to be applied in South Sudan. The application is varied from homes, health centers, schools and small shops to remote and rural areas as well as urban areas.  The big challenge for solar energy is its initial costs. People are not aware about the advantages and disadvantages of the solar energy technology in South Sudan.  This is meant that people should be well informed on the benefits of solar energy and their costs. Solar panels retailers with international standards should be made available but in affordable prices. Rural electrification by solar energy can be established to provide local people with electricity. However, the people in rural areas are not ready to pay such costly service. Therefore, solar energy products need to be subsidized by government, local and international non governmental organizations (NGOs) and local enterprises. Crude oil for electricity generation need to be considered too to support the current power problems, but the cost is an issue. Natural gas, biogas (Methane) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) can as well be used to generate electricity for lighting.