Renewable Energy Development in Africa: Limits and Prospects

Abstract: In this seminar, Dr. Mary Suzan Abbo will discuss Africa’s energy landscape as well as energy potential for solar and wind. She will also share key limits and prospects for renewable energy. Dr. Abbo will discuss some of the interventions she has been involved with at the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC). CREEC is based in Kampala-Uganda and it started in 2001 with the goal of increasing access to modern types of energy in East Africa through training, testing, applied research and implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency solutions. CREEC has implemented over 300 interventions in East Africa and beyond.

Bio: Mary Suzan Abbo is the Managing Director at the Centre for Research in Energy and Energy Conservation (CREEC), CEDAT, Makerere University. She has a back ground in civil and process engineering with knowledge in conventional and renewable energy technologies. Mary Suzan’s work over the last 17 years has led to development and rehabilitation of communities as well as design and implementation of renewable energy and energy efficiency interventions for productive use, rural electrification, household energy and energy entrepreneurship. She has been a member of 5 boards and committees on renewable energy including the Scaling Off grid Energy (SOGE) a USAID/Power Africa/DFID/Shell foundation collaboration; and the Academic board of the College of Engineering Design Art and Technology (CEDAT), Makerere University. Prior to joining CREEC, Mary Suzan served as a Civil Engineer for the Northern Uganda Transition Initiative (NUTI-USAID) covering the Acholi sub region. She had previously worked with the Local Government in Tororo as a Municipal Civil Engineer. In 2017, she was appointed as 1 of 4 Managing Directors of the Knowledge for Development Partnership (K4DP) that was launched at the UN headquarters in Geneva. In applied research, Mary Suzan is currently Co-PI on several renewable energy global research programmes including those funded by RS DFID and UK Aid under the African Clean Energy Research Alliance (ACERA). She works within a network of 165 universities, over 2000 entities including businesses, public bodies and NGOs in Uganda, the rest of Africa, Asia, Europe and USA. Mary Suzan has authored and co-authored 7 peer reviewed papers.