The 'Energy Mix' in South Sudan

Fuel-wood and charcoal are the conventional sources of energy for most people in South Sudan, according to Boghos Ghougassian of the Middle East Centre for the Transfer of Appropriate Technology (MECTAT). Charity fundraising website GlobalGiving.org cited other unprocessed biomass fuels, such as dung and crop residues, as the main sources fuel for daily cooking and heating.

Wood resources are essentially considered "free resources" that can be used without limitation, according to Ghougassian, which has led to the depletion of forests and created an urgent need for large-scale use of efficient stoves and better demand-side management of wood energy.

Estimates on the contribution of oil and gas to South Sudan energy consumption mix were not readily available as of July 2012, but the total primary energy supply of the formerly united Sudan in 2007 was 14,675 thousand tons of oil equivalent (ktoe), with biomass accounting 72.8 percent, oil and petroleum 26.3 percent and hydro 0.8 percent, according to the South Sudan-American Friendship and Trade Association.

Renewable energy potential
South Sudan has high potential for renewable energies to generate electricity, including small-scale hydropower and, with about eight hours of sunshine per day, photovoltaic. The main barriers to solar energy in South Sudan are the initial and running costs of the technology, according to the South Sudan-American Friendship and Trade Association.

South Sudan has also shown an interest in partnering with Kenya's Geothermal Development Company (GDC) to assist it in exploring and developing its own geothermal energy resources, news agency All Africa reported in June 2011. Eng Elhadi, the general manager of Investment and Finance in South Sudan, said his country had three potential sites it would like to develop in collaboration with GDC, according to All Africa. A GDC manager said once GDC establishes the existence of geothermal energy in South Sudan, it would undertake surface exploration studies; as of mid-2012, though, the Kenyan company had not yet received any formal request for assistance from South Sudan.

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