The most ambitious renewables project

A complete replacement of fossil fuels is inevitable. If not by a wilful and smooth transition to renewables, then by sheer and blunt requirement when the well literally runs dry, and the sky becomes an irreversible plague. And we’re closer to that day than we realise in our day-to-day lives. At the current rate of consumption, this isn’t a distant future problem – this is a next and even current generation problem. This issue, on a human scale, is immediate.

So it’s time for humans to do what humans do best: adapt and solve.

The international commitment to cease production of fuel cars, the large push in renewable sources, and significant advancements in efficient storage count as only a few such examples.

Cape Verde, an archipelago of 10 islands off the west coast of Africa, upped the ante on an already high-stakes game.

100% renewable energy by 2025.

Hydropower is the most widespread renewable energy source, being efficient, immensely powerful, and also… ultimately not accessible by Cape Verde. This alone makes any renewable energy plans ambitious with current technology.

They do, however, have access to some geothermal sources. Being on the equator makes solar energy more effective. And being an island nation, they have excellent access to tradewinds – ideal for wind energy.

How is Cape Verde able to achieve 100% renewable energy so soon?

A large ingredient in this impressive recipe is how they already operate. Centralised energy is often taken as standard; even national grids are connected internationally. Cape Verde utilises a half-and-half approach, with a main grid supporting the bulk of the work, with localised ‘micro-grid’s as fallbacks for outages and extra support for more intensive demands. At least three individual communities already employ this method to great effect. And how are these micro-grids powered? Solar and wind!

So this ambitious projection is less about mass-replacement of sources, and more about extending the already existing sources in place – which currently account for an approximate quarter of energy production.

This will be an historic landmark on the landscape of renewable energy, and will no doubt come with even further advancements in renewable technologies that otherwise get less attention. With hydropower being more desirable generally, solar and wind naturally get less attention than their value demands.

Two things are certain: Cape Verde’s transition will be among the smoothest, and they themselves are amongst the vanguard into renewables for us all.