Sudan’s Drivers for Transition to Renewable Energy

By Dr. Engineer Jaafar Ahmed Khalifa
The transition to renewable energy has become a widely recognized global term (Global Energy Transition) and is now a leading concern for most governments. While the world’s primary motivation for transitioning to renewable energy is predominantly climatic, Sudan’s national motivations differ in their foundations and concepts, especially considering that our carbon footprint is virtually zero, amounting to only 0.05% according to the International Energy Agency classification.
So, what are our national drivers for transitioning to renewable energy?
After analyzing our sources and patterns of traditional energy supply and consumption (fossil fuels, water, forests, etc.), I believe Sudan’s national motivations for energy transition should be as follows:
1. National Security Motivation
2. Economic Motivation
3. Rural Development Motivation
4. Forest Conservation Motivation
Here lies the difference between our national perspective and the prevailing global understanding of energy transition, noting that forests are considered renewable energy sources.
The current situation imposed by the war, despite its severity, is a temporary and exceptional condition. Thus, the move towards renewable energy must stem from the aforementioned strategic motivations.
National Security Motivation:
In Sudan, fossil fuels (oil, gas, coal) are the primary source of energy for the major modern consumption sectors (transportation, electricity generation, agriculture, residential sector — especially gas, etc.), meeting around 88% (IEA 2022) of the total fuel consumption in these sectors.
Before the war severely damaged much of the local oil industry infrastructure, an official report stated that in 2020:
39% of transport fuel was provided through imports,
50% of cooking gas was imported,
and most of the electricity sector’s fuel needs were also met through imports.
Indicators showed that these figures were steadily rising before the war (according to Sudan Central Bank reports for 2020–2021) — and certainly worsened after the conflict.
Thus, energy consumption sectors in Sudan are highly sensitive to any threats to the continuity of fossil fuel imports or global price increases — all of which impact vital sectors.
Imagine: what would happen to the country’s fuel-dependent sectors if imports halted due to regional or global security tensions disrupting Red Sea shipping routes for weeks or months? Or if global fossil fuel prices surged sharply?
It’s not unlikely that international forces and organizations may intentionally push for higher global fossil fuel prices to coerce nations and populations towards consuming renewable energy instead of fossil fuels.
Indeed, some European countries have already begun imposing additional tariffs on fossil fuels to make fossil-based energy more expensive than renewable energy, incentivizing energy consumers and producers to shift.
Thus, Sudan’s current heavy reliance on fossil fuels represents a critical vulnerability to our national security.
Conversely, transitioning to renewable energy would grant Sudan a degree of independence in its energy resources, strengthening national security.
Economic Motivation:
Since the primary resources for renewable energy are abundantly available locally, there would be no need to spend foreign currency on importing a significant portion of our fuel if these resources are properly utilized.
Therefore, transitioning to renewable energy (in a broader sense yet to be fully explored) would directly support the national economy by saving substantial foreign currency previously spent on bridging fossil fuel shortages, especially in the transportation and electricity sectors.
Moreover, renewable energy sources generally require less infrastructure for transportation and storage.
Hence, funds currently allocated to importing and distributing fossil fuels — or invested in expanding thermal energy generation — could be redirected towards generating more energy from renewable sources (solar and wind) and localizing the technologies needed to convert these resources.
From another perspective, the cost per kilowatt-hour of solar-generated electricity at a utility scale has now become cheaper than electricity generated from any fossil fuel source — especially in Sudan due to the country’s abundant solar radiation.
On a third front, Sudan possesses all the basic conditions for producing and exporting what is known in global energy markets as green hydrogen, which many studies regard as the “oil of the near future” — offering huge financial opportunities for countries with abundant renewable energy and water resources.
Producing green hydrogen locally would also enable Sudan to:
Manufacture green ammonia (an essential fertilizer component), thus supporting agricultural production,
Store and transport hydrogen efficiently,
Save foreign currency otherwise spent on importing fertilizers,
And significantly boost exports.
The potential of green hydrogen and its economic benefits for Sudan deserves a series of detailed discussions on its own.
We will continue, God willing, in future articles to discuss the remaining drivers behind Sudan’s transition to renewable energy, the broader concept of energy transition, and other related topics — with the aim of spreading public awareness about this critical issue and drawing the attention of policymakers.

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