Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Journal

Access to electricity is essential for development and economic growth. This study explores the potential for renewable energy to provide affordable energy and to alleviate energy poverty in the southern African region. Data analysis and visualization can help us understand the trends in, and characteristics of, energy demand and generation and draw insights into energy inequity across southern Africa. Patterns of electricity demand dictate the scale of energy infrastructure investments required to meet that demand reliably. However, electricity demand forecasts, dictated by the country’s paying capacity and international financial support, highlight the continuation of energy inequities across the southern African region well into the future. This electricity demand analysis project is part of a larger project examining cost-effective planning and implementation of renewable energy generation to provide reliable electricity to countries in southern Africa.