Desert to Power Initiative
T he Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is mainstreaming climate adaptation and resilience measures to climate-proof investments under the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) Desert to Power Initiative, a key pillar of the Great Green Wall Initiative in the Sahel. GCA is working with its partners to provide upstream technical assistance under the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP).
The Desert to Power Initiative is transforming the Sahel’s desert area to address regional energy needs as well as helping mobilize private sector investments in solar projects. In addition, the initiative develops institutional capacity in the Sahel countries while leveraging clean technologies to deliver adaptation benefits, thereby ensuring the long-term sustainability of renewable energy programs.
GCA is providing upstream technical assistance to all downstream projects supported by the Desert to Power Initiative in Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, and Sudan. GCA is delivering a climate risk screening and geospatial preliminary planning tool for future investors and solar energy project developers in the Sahel region. The tool will allow the projects’ stakeholders to visualize the main climate risks for solar energy projects (on-grid and off-grid) in the specific project location, under different climate change scenarios. Additionally, it provides access to the country- and technology-specific guidelines and potential adaptation solutions, supporting the development of climate-resilient solar assets.
Investment Value Influenced by GCA
$966.7 million
Beneficiaries
250 million citizens from Sahel countries
Implementation Period
2022-2029
Partner
GCA’s Added Value
GCA’s technical support for the initiative includes the delivery of a geospatial visualization tool, linked with context-specific technical guidelines, to help investment project stakeholders:
- Screen projects for climate risk
- Ensure that investments are designed to optimize the financial and operational performance of assets under projected climate hazard and risk scenarios
- Integrate practical risk management and climate adaptation options to ensure the investment is climate-proofed against current and projected climate risks
Expected Outcomes
GCA’s support will reinforce the Desert to Power Initiative outcomes by supporting downstream investment project stakeholders in mitigating the impacts of climate change in future infrastructure assets, thereby minimizing service disruption.
The Desert to Power Initiative’s expected outcomes include:
- Electricity generation capacity of 10 gigawatts through photovoltaic solar systems via public, private grid, and off-grid projects by 2030
- Connecting 250 million people to clean electricity