Renewable Energy in Congo (Brazzaville)

In 2008, the Congo (Brazzaville) generated 0.45 billion kilowatthours of electricity from an installed capacity base of 148 megawatts. The top 2 energy sources overall were Hydroelectricity (80.41% of total capacity) and Conventional Thermal (19.59%).

In 2008, the Congo (Brazzaville) produced 0.52 quadrillion BTUs (QBTUs) of primary energy, an increase of 0.06 QBTUs over the prior year and a compound growth rate of 0.32% over a 5 year period.

Primary energy consumption meanwhile increased by 26.07% over the prior year to 0.04 QBTUs, equating to 9.88 million BTUs per capita which places the Congo (Brazzaville) into the 79th percentile of countries worldwide for per capita primary energy consumption.

The Congo (Brazzaville)’s total electricity capacity has increased on an annual compound basis by 1.14% over the last 20 years to 148 megawatts (MW) in 2008. In the last year, the total installed capacity base increased by 27 megawatts (+22.31%) with the largest source of new capacity being Hydroelectricity (+27 megawatts).

Total renewable energy capacity accounts for 80.41% of this total installed capacity base whilst renewable energy sources excluding hydropower account for 0%.

Hydroelectricity experienced the fastest capacity growth rate (29.35%) in the last year whilst Hydroelectricity Energy added the most capacity in the last 5 years, reaching 119 MW in 2008.

Total electricity generation meanwhile climbed 13% over the last year to 0.45 billion kilowatthours (bn kWh) in 2008 with the largest source for electricity generation being Hydroelectricity (82.08% of total net generation).

Conventional sources including conventional thermal (coal, petroleum, gas), nuclear power and hydro pumped storage accounted for 17.92% of total electricity generated, up from 16.37% 5 years previously.

In 2009, the Congo (Brazzaville) had a zero balance net import requirement. There were no exports of electricity. Conventional Energy sources represented 19.59% of total installed capacity in the Congo (Brazzaville) in 2008, a decrease of -4.37 percentage points over a 5 year period.

Conventional thermal energy had an installed capacity base of 29 MW in 2008, a change of 0 MW over the previous year and a 0% change on a compound basis over a 5 year period. Conventional thermal energy has seen its share of total installed capacity decrease from 23.97% in 2004 to 19.59% in 2008. Conventional Thermal Energy generated 0.08 billion kilowatthours of electricity in 2008, equating to 2.79 billion kilowatthours of electricity per million kilowatts of capacity.

Renewable Energy sources represented 80.41% of total installed capacity in the Congo (Brazzaville) in 2008, an increase of 4.37 percentage points over a 5 year period.

27 MW of capacity was added since 2007 and 0 MW were retired. Hydroelectricity Energy grew the most, adding 27 MW of capacity.

This renewable energy capacity generated 0.37 billion kilowatthours of electricity (82.08% of the total), primarily from Hydroelectricity (100% of the 0.37 bn kWh generated).

Hydroelectricity had an installed capacity base of 119 MW in 2008, a change of 27 MW over the previous year. It’s share of total installed capacity increased from 76.03% in 2004 to 80.41% in 2008 and it’s share of renewable installed capacity remained unchanged at 100% in 2008.

Hydroelectricity generated 0.37 billion kilowatthours of electricity in 2008, equating to 82.08% of the total electricity generated. This is equivalent to 3.12 billion kilowatthours of electricity per million kilowatts of capacity, which was the highest ratio amongst renewable energy sources.

The Congo (Brazzaville) has 0.54% of the total regional capacity for Hydroelectricity and ranks at #109 in the world for Hydroelectricity installed capacity.

In 2008, total carbon dioxide emissions in the Congo (Brazzaville) reached 6.08 million Metric Tonnes (mn MT), a compound increase of 14.63% over a 5 year period. The Congo (Brazzaville)’s total represented 0.53% of total regional emissions and 0.02% of total world emissions.

On a per capita basis meanwhile, the Congo (Brazzaville) ranked at #136 worldwide, with per capita emissions increasing on 2007 by 0.06 metric tonnes to 1.56 metric tonnes.

In 2008, the Congo (Brazzaville) had a Carbon Intensity (@ Purchasing Power Parity) of 0.462 CO2 MT/$ 000, which represented a -5.06% decrease over the prior year and a 8.93% decrease on a 5 year compound basis.

Energy intensity meanwhile reached 3123.87 BTUs per US Dollar of GDP (@ Purchasing Power Parity), a 19.38% increase on the prior year and a compound annual 11.5% growth on a 5 year basis.

On a global basis, the Congo (Brazzaville) ranked at #60 for Carbon Intensity and at #153 for Energy Intensity.

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