With the global population swelling and industrialisation on the rise in developing nations, humanity’s hunger for energy has reached unprecedented levels.
Well if the words of Nani Juwara, the managing director of the country’s electricity giant are anything to go by, energy problems in the country will soon be a thing of the past.
As reported in our today’s edition of The Point, Juwara assured that despite the challenges, he is optimistic of providing more reliable and stable energy supply in the country than in the past.
This, he opined, is based on the fact that as at now, the company has more generation capacity available now as opposed to the demand.
However, people are used to such promises because each time another MD takes over he gives similar promises. And in most cases such promises are not met.
It is fact that The Gambia has a perennial problem when it comes effective and efficient supplying of water and electricity. Well all know the nightmares some households go through when it comes to accessing water or electricity.
It took some neighbourhoods late at night before they get access to water and in most cases on a very low speed.
As globalisation continues to bind the world in deeper networks of trade, countries can augment and diversify their energy endowments by exploring other sources.
Since The Gambia is blessed with abundant sunshine that if converted into solar energy, would help us a great deal. But how ready is the country to embrace solar and other renewable energy sources?
Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy is integral to global development in the twenty-first century. And it is high time the Gambia also think of other renewable energy technologies. Renewable power generation technologies have accounted for more than half of all new power generation capacity additions since 2011. Today, over 164 countries have renewable energy targets, up from just 43 in 2005.
“Humankind has never transitioned to energy sources that are more costly, less reliable, and have a larger environmental footprint than the incumbent - and yet that’s precisely what adding large amounts of solar and wind to the grid requires..”
Michael Shellenberger