Investment Opportunities in the Energy Sector of Eritrea.
Contact Person:
Samuel Baire, Director General
Department of Energy
Ministry of Energy and Mines
P. O. Box 5285
Tel: +291 1 121541/127944
Fax: +291 1 127652
E-mail: samuelbaire@yahoo.com
1. Background to the Sector
Like in most developing countries, biomass carriers of energy are still the major sourcesof energy in Eritrea. In 1998, the total primary energy supply was 685,710 ton of oil
equivalent (TOE), of which 441,640 TOE, or 66.3%, was derived from local biomass
fuels, and the remaining 244,060 TOE, or 33.7%, from imported oil products. 45,820
TOE from the oil products was used for the thermal generation of 213 GWh of electricity.
The final energy consumption per capita was 194 kilogram of oil equivalent (kgoe) withmodern energy (electricity and oil products) accounting for 65.3 kgoe. The per capita
share of modern fuel for Eritrea is very low even by some African standards, andcompares poorly with that of Republic of South Africa (2,350), Egypt (1630 kgoe),Algeria (890 kgoe), Zambia (130 kgoe), Kenya (110 kgoe), Ghana (110 kgoe), Sudan (70kgoe) but higher than few countries like Mozambique (44 kgoe), Tanzania (30 kgoe),
Ethiopia (20 kgoe) (Source: Energy Statistics of non-OECD countries, International
Energy Agency Publication, 1999). However, in most rural areas of Eritrea, up to 95% of
the total energy consumed is derived from biomass sources. Only 2% of the rural
population (74% of the total) is estimated to have access to electricity whereas in theurban areas the access is over 82% on the average. This shows that there is a formidable
task required to electrify the rural areas.
Per capita electricity generation was 61 kWh while consumption was 48 kWh in 1998. Incomparison, per capita electricity generation was (all in kWh) 4301 in South Africa, 744
for Egypt, Zimbabwe 694, Kenya 129, Tanzania 54, Sudan 47, Uganda 37, Ethiopia 21,
Chad 12 (IEA, 1999). Final consumption of oil products is also very low standing at 62
kgoe per capita in 1998. There is about 500 kW solar PV system installed in the country
for community based applications like water pumping, powering health centres, schools
etc. This is still negligible in the national energy balance and amounts to just about 0.6%of the firm capacity of the electricity generation system. The firm capacity of the existing
national utility, The Eritrea Electric Authority is around 70 MW which is all throughthermal means. It is estimated that another 30 MW of generation capacity is owned byeither public institutions (e. g., Assab Petroleum Refinery and Assab Port Administration),
small municipalities in remoter towns, or private entrepreneurs with smaller gensets.
Soon an 84 MW thermal generation plant and a 132 kV/66kV transmission lines is toconnect Massawa, the site of the plant, with the major market centres Asmara, Keren,
Dekemhare and Mendefera.
Policy objectives
The sufficient, reliable and sustainable production and supply of affordable energy
throughout Eritrea is the main objective of the Government's policy in the energy sector.
The general policy is to provide the energy services based on a diversified supply ofenergy sources. The specific objectives of this policy are twofold. Firstly, it is theintention to facilitate the economic growth through the provision of adequate, reliable andsustainable refined energy at an economic price and at appropriate locations. Secondly,
the policy is aimed at improving the living standards of the population through theprovision of affordable energy. The implementation of the policy must be mindful of thedesire to halt, and in some cases, reverse the recent trend in environmental degradation,and of the need to make the most effective use of limited resources, particularly in theinitial stages of development.
To achieve the above mentioned objectives, the Ministry of Energy and Mines isentrusted with the task of designing and refining policies, strategies and regulatory issues
in the energy sector, approving the corresponding plans and programmes formulated in
the sector and supervising their implementation. As part of this task, the Ministry isdrafting legislation on the commercial and safety aspects of the energy industry with thevision of making it efficient, safe, secured, competitive and fair trade balancing theinterests of suppliers and consumers.
Policies and development strategies
Taking the above situation into account, the main energy sector development policies andstrategies pursued by the Eritrean Government have been aiming at: Promoting economically and environmentally sound energy sector development
through the application of appropriate technology of energy production, conservation
and usage optimisation;
Implementing a policy of appropriate energy pricing structures that avoid all forms ofsubsidy;
Diversifying sources of energy in order to minimise the strategic dependence on thedwindling biomass energy resources and imported oil by way of promoting private
capital participation in hydrocarbon exploration and developing renewable energy
resources potential;
Modernising and expanding the country's power generation and distribution systemand creating enabling situation for private participation in energy development andmarket;
Developing capacity through training and establishment of the necessary institutional
and legal framework in order to competently manage the sector.

2. Investment Opportunities in the Power Sector
To extend the supply of electricity to an increasing number of locations and customers,
international, regional or national power companies, local or foreign Independent Power
Producers (IPPs) and Independent Power Distributors (IPDs) are encouraged to invest in
the required infrastructures. The Government will soon establish an Electricity
Regulatory Board and a System Operator with whom the IPPs and the IPDs will interact.
The IPPs have the option to generate power from sources like the renewables wind andsolar, geothermal, or using state of the art conventional energy technologies. In principle
importation or exportation of electricity and thus regional integration of power arepermissible subject to the approval by the Government. In particular national companies
and electric membership co-operatives are highly encouraged to enter in the market ofrural electrification either by extending the national grid or through a self contained
system of generation and distribution.

3. Investment In the Oil Sector
3.1 Upstream: - Petroleum exploration and development is one of the sectors, which theGovernment has given priority. To this effect it has enacted two relevant laws in July
1993, namely, i) a Proclamation to Govern Petroleum Operations (Proclamation No.
40/1993) and ii) A proclamation pertaining to the Payment of Income Tax(Proclamation No. 41/1993). These two proclamations were revised recently to give
additional incentives to investors and are replaced, respectively, by Proclamation No.
108/2000 and No. 109/2000. For example, the income tax has been reduced from
50% to 35%.
The Ministry of Energy and Mines has compiled all technical information of theprospective areas in the Eritrea Red Sea in two volumes in collaboration with
Robertson Red Sea International Ltd. So as to help potential investors get thebackground information on the hydrocarbon potentiality. The Eritrean Red Sea basin,covering about 125,000 km2, is underdeveloped and offers attractive exploration
opportunities in the pre-rift (Mesozoic), syn-rift (Miocene) and post-rift (LateMiocene to early Quaternary) sedimentary units.
3.2 Downstream: - Rehabilitation of the existing refinery in Assab or construction of a
new refinery, oil and gas distribution licenses, depot construction, jetty expansion,
retail stations in urban/semi-urban areas and through agents in rural areas, and LPG
retail stations in urban/semi-urban areas are among the investment opportunities inthis sub-sector.
4. Investment in Renewable Energy Technologies: The potentials for increased utilisation of renewable energy sources in Eritrea has beenassessed in recent comprehensive energy studies by the Ministry of Energy and Mines incollaboration with international consultants. A summary of the conclusions is given
below.
Biomass Resources
It has been indicated that biomass energy source cannot be sustainably harvested at thepresent rate of take-off relative to the stock. As it will continue to be the major source ofenergy for rural areas, proper management practices have to be introduced. Developmentof biomass resources either on a large-scale levels (reforestation, afforestation),community level (community woodlots) or individual level (agroforestry/farm treeplanting) when assisted by the removal of barriers to proper tree management like waterand soil conservation, tree species selection, land ownership, ownership of planted trees,
alternative uses of land etc, could lead to a success story in regenerating the dwindling
resource.
There are enough indications that there is already good potential for modern biomassenergy usage in certain locations in Eritrea: The Alighider Farm Estate has the potential to supply raw materials (cotton andsorghum stalks, elephant grass, banana leaves etc.) for briquette production for atleast 15 plants each of capacity 4000 tons per year. Briquettes, a chopped andcompressed agricultural waste, are excellent replacement for fuel wood and charcoal.
Alternatively, the Agricultural waste could be used to generate electricity thermally.
Biogas plants could be installed in Elabered Agro-industry and other smaller dairy
farms
Biogas could be generated from cactus trees
Energy recovery from municipal solid and liquid wastes
Energy crops, like Salicornia that can grow with seawater (being developed by Sea
Water Farm), could generate electricity for local uses or for feeding the central grid.
Dissemination of improved wood stoves throughout rural or urban Eritrea is highly
desirable and attractive for artisans or entrepreneurs.
Solar radiation
Preparation of solar radiation maps for Eritrea is in progress. This work is carried out by
the Energy Research and Training Centre of the Ministry of Energy and Mines and isbased on satellite data and ground station data measured at 10 automatic recording
meteorological stations. The average annual global radiation is found to be in the range of5-6 kWh/m2d.
There is no doubt that Eritrea has a very high potential for utilisation of solar energy.
Possible uses are solar photovoltaic systems, solar water heaters and sterilizers, solar crop
dryers and tobacco curing, solar desalination plants, solar cooling and refrigeration, solar
thermal electricity generation and are among the investment opportunities. A local partial
manufacture of solar photovoltaic panels and associated batteries is highly beneficial andattractive to reduce costs.

Wind energy
The historical and recent data that exists suggest that the southern coastal region has very
good wind conditions for electricity generation. In fact the measurements as reflected in
the wind-class classification in the table below shows Assab and Gahro, close to theborder with Djibouti to the south, have among the best potentials in Africa. Windy passes
that are suited for electricity generation also exist in the northern mountains asrepresented by the Dekemhare and Gizgiza stations. The critical average wind speed forwind pumping of about 2.5 m/s is available throughout Eritrea.
The recently completed GEF sponsored feasibility study for wind energy applications inthe southern coastal areas has shown that a 2.4 MW wind park in Assab and many off
grid wind stand alone, wind-diesel or wind-solar hybrid systems are very much feasible
and quite economically attractive for investors. Wind pumps for irrigation or wateringvillages and their livestock have very good potential practically in all locations in Eritrea.
Table 1: Wind speed, power density, and power class of the 25 Eritrean wind stations
Mean annual windspeed, at 10 m ht.
0 - 4.4 m/s

Wind power density
at 10 m ht in W/m2
0 - 100

Wind power class

4.4 - 5.1 m/s

100 - 15025.1 - 5.6 m/s

150 - 200

35.6- -6.0 m/s
6.0 - 6.4 m/s
6.4 - 7.0 m/s
7.0 - 9.4 m/s

200 - 250
250 - 300
300 - 400
400 - 1000

45671Stations ineach class
Massawa, Bada
Debresina, Hadish
Adi, Engel, Adobha,Embatkala, Asmara,
Alighieri, Agordat,
and Dahlak
Idi, Hashimet, Tio
Nakfa, and Keren
Kerkebet, Areza
Kohaito, Maileham
Dekemhare
Gizgiza
AssabGahro

Hydropower
There are many potential sites for micro and small hydropower and to some extent largescale hydropower projects in the river basins of Eritrea but all require detailed feasibilitystudies.
Geothermal steam
Part of Eritrea is situated in a volcanic area. Measurements at the volcanic mountain Alid
indicate an underlying hydrothermal reservoir with a temperature in the range of 250 -350oC. Studies sponsored by USAID have concluded that the water to rock ratio in thereservoir is high enough for a developable hydro-thermal system. It appears as possible toinstall one or several power stations in this area. The distance to the existing transmission
line between Massawa and Asmara is not more than about 100 km, which makes the siteeven more interesting for development. More detailed studies are however necessary for
an assessment of the financial and environmental feasibility of exploiting this geothermalresource.
Investment in innovative new energy systems like hydrogen based energy when foundeconomically feasible will be considered for licensing.
Further information could be given upon request through the following address.
Contact Person:
Samuel Baire, Director General
Department of Energy
Ministry of Energy and Mines
P. O. Box 5285
Tel: +291 1 121541/127944
Fax: +291 1 127652
E-mail: samuelbaire@yahoo.com
NB
Foreign companies presently engaged in Mineral and Petroleum Explorations
activities in Eritrea are at present;
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Nevsun Resources Ltd.−Canadian Company
Sub-Saharan Resources−Australian Canadian Company
Dragon Mining−Australian Company
Sana Resources Inc.−American Canadian Company
Eritrean Minerals Corporations PLC.−Canadian Company
PRECO − French Company