Policy plays a major role in securing energy transition

Four esteemed panellists representing Jordan, Uzbekistan, Senegal, and Zimbabwe gathered to offer insight into their respective countries' energy mix and economies. The strategic panel, titled Guaranteeing energy security through energy transition, explored the urgency of accelerating the transition to a multifaceted new energy system. The leaders debated issues such as financing, policy, and access to affordable energy.

To spur radical change and boost the development of renewable energy projects, Jordan made moves to attract international investors. His Excellency Dr. Saleh A Al-Kharabsheh, Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Jordan, explained that his country investigated potential barriers for investment and put an ecosystem in place to attract investors.

“We looked into it and there were administrative barriers, legal barriers, financial barriers, and commercial. For the administrative barriers, we sort of facilitated the process of submitting the proposal evaluation in a very transparent manner. For the legal barriers, we developed agreements that we entered into with the potential developments so that they would feel comfortable that they are secure and that their investments are secure. We also, as a government, provided a guarantee for them for certain levels and types of investments,” he said.

Uzbekistan had a similar journey and found investment success after regulatory reform. “We didn't have any power generation before 2016 when we were able to install only about 2.4 gigawatts of additional capacity…In 2019, when the Minister of Energy was established, we started re-bundling our energy companies. This separated power generation, distribution, and transmission lines. The legal framework was established by our government - there were real reforms that were not reversible. Then the real investment came and right now we have private investors in thermal power, solar, and wind,’ said His Excellency Jurabeck Mirzamahmudov, Minister of Energy, Uzbekistan.

Slightly different barriers exist for Senegal as investors tend to shy away from investing in gas as the country transitions from coal to diversify and eradicate the disparity of access to energy in Africa. “You know, the access to electricity is still a reality in our continent, because, we have around 600 million people that don't have access to electricity,” said His Excellency Cheik Niane, Deputy Minister of Energy, Oil and Mining, Senegal.

He explained that back in 2012, Senegal made plans to refurbish all its power plants and their first engagement for investment was with the bank that financed the construction of those same plants 110 years ago. “Now I go to the same development bank and say, look, we have our 100-megawatt power plant running and polluting. Now I can transform it to gas which will drastically reduce pollution, they said, ‘no, I cannot finance gas’.”

Senegal is actively transitioning to cleaner alternatives with an urgent plan to provide access to electricity for all its citizens, but private investment is required to make it work. Niane made his position clear regarding financing, noting that “developed countries need to decarbonise and Africa needs to industrialise.”

“Perhaps I should add one word - initialise - with the development and finance of the gas because the gas should be considered having a network transition. And this can clearly invite the development of our countries, and also in parallel continue the development of renewables, because we're very proud of it because we must have a transition,” he said.

Niane continued, “Financing gas for the people of the country to enable them to industrialise should be part of the plan. We should help support this in the distribution at the front end of a major gas project.”
His Excellency Edgar Moyo, Minister of Energy, Zimbabwe, agrees that funding commitments should be made and realised. “Less talk, more action”, he declared.

“For a long time, our energy supply has been dominated by the government utility, and over the last few years, we have opened up to the private sector and we are encouraging private sector players to find opportunity in our supply market where they can invest,” he continued.

To attract investors, Zimbabwe has developed a government guaranteed system to secure investments and stave off currency volatility like the troika system, with UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil, which was created to hopefully move the needle on the financing component here in the UAE. Regardless of geographic locations or affiliations, Dr. Al-Kharabsheh believes that we need to start taking concrete actions today.

“We have been talking about this level of cooperation, about financing, about the support that we can provide to developing countries, about differentiation and shared responsibility. I think we need to, as they say, ‘walk the talk’,” he said.

“If we had acted years ago, maybe we wouldn't see the disasters that we see today. And I think it can be a win, win, win for everyone. It's a shared international responsibility. We cannot continue at this level where we annex one country countries and not another.”

“I don't think that debate should continue, and it cannot continue. We start. We must start adding energy resources today, and I don't expect - no one should expect - Jordan to have the same way forward as any other country. What is suitable for Senegal may not be suitable for Europe, so one size doesn't fit all,” he said.