The population in Cape Verde is approximately 513,000 (2010), distributed over 10 islands. The islands are not electrically interconnected, and have their individual power supply systems, operated by ELECTRA, the national power utility company. Around 88% of the urban population and 54% of the rural population had access to electricity in 2010, rising to over 95% in 2011, which compares favourably to the 60% average seen in other middle-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Rehabilitation work on the networks of Sao Nicolau and Brava has been carried out, and ELECTRA aims to rehabilitate the remaining six island networks (excluding Boavista Island, whose network is under private administration) by 2016. Transmission and distribution in the country occurs at a range of voltages, predominantly 33 kV and 0.4 kV.
The general policy objectives, defined in the National Energy Plan for 2003-2012, and reaffirmed in the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper are “to guarantee the satisfaction of the energy needs…and at a cost that contributes to improve the well being and the quality of life of the population, and for the competitiveness of the national economy, without creating macroeconomic or environmental imbalances or else aggravating the dependence on the outside”. These principles are translated into more specific policy objectives:1) Consolidation of the Energy Sector on 3 levels;i) Structural: enhancing the infrastructure for production, storage, transformation, transport and distribution of energy, to cover a greater area of the national territory;ii) Access; increasing the population’s access to the commercial forms of energy;iii) Institutional: endowing existing entities with means for policy-making and adaptation of technologies, establishing regulatory entities;2) Guarantee of energy Security through;i) Diversification of the energy sources by resorting, above all, to the utilization of indigenous resources3) Guarantee of Competitiveness of the national economy; throughi) Regulation, prices and tariffs policy;ii) Incentives for competition, decentralised and self-production,iii)Incentives to limit waste and losses in the consumption of energy,iv)Incentives for better efficiency in the energy supply systems;4) Minimise the environmental impact of production, transformation and utilization of energy.The GPRSP does not fix any targets for energy access, renewable energy sources, or energy saving, but specific targets were in the National Energy Plan 2003-2012. The GPRSP reaffirms the role of the state in tariff policy, and, the importance of a regulatory body.With support from Gesto Energia S.A., the Government developed a Renewable Energy Plan (2010-2020) in 2010, with a target of producing 50% of the country’s energy requirements from renewables by 2020. The Government aims to achieve this solely through the promotion of the private sector, without the use of any form of feed-in tariff mechanism, and Law n1/2011 sets out a framework for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in the country. The Law established a regime for micro-generation, and guaranteed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for 15 years, for all IPPs utilising renewable energy, as well as setting out conditions for self-producers, and codifying the tax exemption on the import of RE equipment. Nearly 600 MW of RE projects are seen as having economic potential, and the Government aims to invest over €600,000 in the projects and requisite infrastructure by 2020. As of 2011, €126,000 had been mobilised.
Solar energyThe potential for solar energy of Cape Verde is very high: 6 kWh/m²/day. Due to the high potential it was intended that solar energy would cover 2 % of the total energy consumption by 2010, although implementation of this target has been limited. There are several successful PV-based applications for water pumping, lighting and telecommunication systems.Wind energyAccording a study carried out by Helimax, Cape Verde is one of the 15 countries with the best wind resource in Africa. The plentiful wind resource is confirmed by monitoring by the World Bank - an average wind velocity of 7.5 m/s. At the end of 2004, there were 3 wind parks: in S. Vincent with an installed capacity of 900 kWh, in Sal with 600 kWh, and in Santiago with 900 kWh, delivering 2.9% of the electrical energy of the country. Recent developments have been made to the sector through collaboration between the Africa Finance Corporation, the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation and Infraco, a consortium for African infrastructure development, in the Cabeólica project, operated by Cabeólica S.A. The project consists of a total of 30 turbines, with 11 installed as of November 2011, for a combined final output of 25.5 MW. Cabeólica S.A. will sell all power generated to ELECTRA under a PPA.The context seems favourable for wind energy to be competitive. There is also an interest in small scale wind projects for small electrical grids in remote locations. Cape Verde is more favourable to small and medium scale projects mainly because of the characteristics of the demand of electricity and the electrical grid. However, the development of wind energy could be hampered because of restrictions on investment, and the need for further capacity building. Wind was also very popular in the past for water pumping purposes.Biomass energyCape Verde has a very low biomass potential. The total production was estimated at 22,264 toe in 2004. This is a problem for households, especially in rural areas, with the urgent need for biomass energy for cooking purposes.Geothermal energyGeothermal investigations have concentrated mainly on the island of Fogo. However, no comprehensive study has been conducted as to the power generation potential. Gesto Energia S.A., an Italian geothermal energy company, recently identified a high-temperature reservoir that could allow for the development of 3 MW of geothermal capacity on the island.HydropowerThere is almost no (economically feasible) potential for hydropower in the islands, predominantly due to the limited water resources in the country. Wave power has been considered for the island nation, with a Gesto study in 2011 indicating a potential of roughly 17 kW/m in some areas, mostly around the islands of Sal and Santo Antão.