This is a follow up to the first thread
https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...an-energy-and-innovation.187728/#post-4379450
1. Potential
Somalia has the biggest Wind and Solar energy potential in Africa and one of the biggest in the world, in some places off-shore an area of just 4km2 could power the whole country
https://sominvest.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/Energy-Sector-Study.pdf
Wind energy alone could generate around 40GW of electricity, that is more than 10 times what the whole horn of Africa combined currently generates every year
Map of Solar energy potential
Electricity cost in Xamar went down by nearly 10cents thanks to a 8MW Solar farm which only ran for 240 minutes a day, imagine a full time 25MW facility
Map of Onshore Wind energy potential at 80-100m high
Map of Offshore Wind energy potential
What is interesting is that thanks to a strong Somali current called the Somali jet, Wind energy produces more at night when Solar is obsolete.
en.wikipedia.org
2. How much would Solar cost per state
Somaliland :
In 2024, SL had around 6.2m inhabitants
Assuming the average person has an annual electricity consumption of 20 kWh, the total annual consumption for 6.2m people would be : 124 million kWh/year
6,200,000×20kWh=124,000,000kWh/year
Transformed into MW => 124m kWh/year÷1,000=124,000 MWh/year
Assuming the annual output of a 25 MW Solar farm would be around 8,000 MWh, the whole state would need only 16 25MW Solar farms
The cost for 25MW of Solar would be max 25m$ but the prices keep falling thanks to China, if you add battery storage it could easily go up to 40m$
This 20mw Solar farm with 40mw battery storage in mozambique cost 36m$
en.wikipedia.org
So if we assume a price of 40m$ for each Solar farm, it would cost 640m$ to power Somaliland with Solar energy
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Let's do the same for each state, next is Puntland :
Population is around 4.9m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 98,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Puntland you would need around 13 25MW Solar farms which would cost 520m$
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Galmudug : 2m people
Average annual consumption of 40,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Galmudug you would need around 6 25MW Solar farms which would cost 240m$
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Hirshabelle : 5.5m people
Average annual consumption of 110,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Hirshabelle you would need around 14 25MW Solar farms which would cost 560m$
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Xamar : 2.8m people
Average annual consumption of 57,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Mogadishu you would need around 8 25MW Solar farms which would cost 320m$
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Southwest : 4.9m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 98,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Southwest you would need around 13 25MW Solar farms which would cost 520m$
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Jubaland : 2.5m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 50,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Jubaland you would need around 7 25MW Solar farms which would cost 280m$
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Total amount of Solar farms in the country : 77
Total Cost for the whole country : 3.1b$
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But you also need to employ people to work at the Solar farm, especially cleaners to clena off the dust
Assuming 10 cleaners per Solar farm, 2 security guards, 3 technicians/electricians and one guy to oversee it the whole thing, salary costs should be about 110 thousand $ a year per facility
Somaliland : 2m$ a year
Puntland : 1.5m$ a year
Galmudug : 660,000$ a year
Hirshabelle : 1.5m$ a year
Xamar : 880,000$ a year
Southwest : 1.5m$ a year
Jubaland : 770,000$ a year
Total cost country-wide : 8m$ a year or a bit less than 10m$ yearly
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2. How much would Wind cost per state
This study of Wind turbines potential in SL shows how cheap electricity generated from Wind is, nearly as cheap as electricity in Ethiopia (0.06$ per kWh)
In Somaliland the area with the most Wind potential is Maydh
Somaliland :
Assuming an average turbine capacity of 2 MW and an average capacity factor of 35%, each turbine would produce :
2 MW × 24 hours/day × 365 days/year × 35% = 6,132 MWh/year
To meet Somaliland's annual electricity consumption of 124,000 MWh, approximately 20 turbines would be required which would cost 40m$
That's assuming the average 2MW wind turbine costs 2m$
www.aditae.com
Here is a chart detailing how much installation costs as a %, Basically Wind turbines are way cheaper than people think
guidetofloatingoffshorewind.com
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Puntland :
Puntland has the highest Wind energy potential in the whole of Africa, if the country was unified into a single government all the wind turbines would be put there for efficiency but it would cost too much in infrastructure to distribute the energy all over the country using big power lines, and becauseof Federalism every state would ideally want to be energy independent and have their own turbines
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Puntland's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
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Galmudug :
Galmudug likewise as the biggest wind potential right behind Puntland
Just 5 2MW Wind turbines could meet Galmudug's annual electricity consumption which would cost 10m$
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Hirshabelle :
Hirshabelle also has a big wind potential
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Hirshabelle's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
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Xamar :
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Xamar's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
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Southwest :
Just 15 2MW Wind turbines could meet Southwest's annual electricity consumption which would cost 30m$
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Jubaland :
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Jubaland's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
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Maintenance :
Average annual maintenance cost for each turbine is around 200,000$ and when you add training and salaries it shouldn't exceed a few millions per state
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Total amount of turbines in the whole country : 80
Total cost of Wind energy in the whole country : less than 200m$
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Wind is extremely cheap for a government to invest in and we have the highest potential on the continent and possibly in the world, so it should be the priority
All of this may not seem cheap to the average reader but trust me for a normal government in the 21st century this should be more than affordable, right now we have the highest electricity cost in Africa and possibly the world, and its truly a shame considering how accesible this new renewable tech is
Electricity cost more in Somalia than in the west and people cant run basic businesses because of the high electricity cost, its like a chain holding the economy back, dirt cheap electricity is guaranteed to make the economy boom as well as generate thousands of jobs for people who work in these solar farms and wind farms
Study on how high electricity cost has a negative impact on Businesses and factories in Bosaso
https://somalipublicagenda.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SPA_Governance_Briefs_36_2025_ENGLISH1.pdf
https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...an-energy-and-innovation.187728/#post-4379450
1. Potential
Somalia has the biggest Wind and Solar energy potential in Africa and one of the biggest in the world, in some places off-shore an area of just 4km2 could power the whole country
https://sominvest.gov.so/wp-content/uploads/Energy-Sector-Study.pdf
Wind energy alone could generate around 40GW of electricity, that is more than 10 times what the whole horn of Africa combined currently generates every year
Map of Solar energy potential
Electricity cost in Xamar went down by nearly 10cents thanks to a 8MW Solar farm which only ran for 240 minutes a day, imagine a full time 25MW facility
Map of Onshore Wind energy potential at 80-100m high
Map of Offshore Wind energy potential
What is interesting is that thanks to a strong Somali current called the Somali jet, Wind energy produces more at night when Solar is obsolete.
Somali Jet - Wikipedia
2. How much would Solar cost per state
Somaliland :
In 2024, SL had around 6.2m inhabitants
Assuming the average person has an annual electricity consumption of 20 kWh, the total annual consumption for 6.2m people would be : 124 million kWh/year
6,200,000×20kWh=124,000,000kWh/year
Transformed into MW => 124m kWh/year÷1,000=124,000 MWh/year
Assuming the annual output of a 25 MW Solar farm would be around 8,000 MWh, the whole state would need only 16 25MW Solar farms
The cost for 25MW of Solar would be max 25m$ but the prices keep falling thanks to China, if you add battery storage it could easily go up to 40m$
This 20mw Solar farm with 40mw battery storage in mozambique cost 36m$
Cuamba Solar Power Station - Wikipedia
So if we assume a price of 40m$ for each Solar farm, it would cost 640m$ to power Somaliland with Solar energy
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's do the same for each state, next is Puntland :
Population is around 4.9m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 98,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Puntland you would need around 13 25MW Solar farms which would cost 520m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Galmudug : 2m people
Average annual consumption of 40,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Galmudug you would need around 6 25MW Solar farms which would cost 240m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hirshabelle : 5.5m people
Average annual consumption of 110,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Hirshabelle you would need around 14 25MW Solar farms which would cost 560m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Xamar : 2.8m people
Average annual consumption of 57,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Mogadishu you would need around 8 25MW Solar farms which would cost 320m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Southwest : 4.9m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 98,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Southwest you would need around 13 25MW Solar farms which would cost 520m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jubaland : 2.5m people
The state has an average annual consumption of 50,000MWh/year
To power the whole of Jubaland you would need around 7 25MW Solar farms which would cost 280m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total amount of Solar farms in the country : 77
Total Cost for the whole country : 3.1b$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
But you also need to employ people to work at the Solar farm, especially cleaners to clena off the dust
Assuming 10 cleaners per Solar farm, 2 security guards, 3 technicians/electricians and one guy to oversee it the whole thing, salary costs should be about 110 thousand $ a year per facility
Somaliland : 2m$ a year
Puntland : 1.5m$ a year
Galmudug : 660,000$ a year
Hirshabelle : 1.5m$ a year
Xamar : 880,000$ a year
Southwest : 1.5m$ a year
Jubaland : 770,000$ a year
Total cost country-wide : 8m$ a year or a bit less than 10m$ yearly
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2. How much would Wind cost per state
This study of Wind turbines potential in SL shows how cheap electricity generated from Wind is, nearly as cheap as electricity in Ethiopia (0.06$ per kWh)
In Somaliland the area with the most Wind potential is Maydh
Somaliland :
Assuming an average turbine capacity of 2 MW and an average capacity factor of 35%, each turbine would produce :
2 MW × 24 hours/day × 365 days/year × 35% = 6,132 MWh/year
To meet Somaliland's annual electricity consumption of 124,000 MWh, approximately 20 turbines would be required which would cost 40m$
That's assuming the average 2MW wind turbine costs 2m$
Levelized Cost Of Energy of Wind Energy in Spain - Aditae Technology
Explore how refurbished wind turbines compare to new ones in terms of LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy) in Spain.
www.aditae.com
Here is a chart detailing how much installation costs as a %, Basically Wind turbines are way cheaper than people think
Wind farm costs | Guide to a floating offshore wind farm
guidetofloatingoffshorewind.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Puntland :
Puntland has the highest Wind energy potential in the whole of Africa, if the country was unified into a single government all the wind turbines would be put there for efficiency but it would cost too much in infrastructure to distribute the energy all over the country using big power lines, and becauseof Federalism every state would ideally want to be energy independent and have their own turbines
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Puntland's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Galmudug :
Galmudug likewise as the biggest wind potential right behind Puntland
Just 5 2MW Wind turbines could meet Galmudug's annual electricity consumption which would cost 10m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hirshabelle :
Hirshabelle also has a big wind potential
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Hirshabelle's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Xamar :
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Xamar's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Southwest :
Just 15 2MW Wind turbines could meet Southwest's annual electricity consumption which would cost 30m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Jubaland :
Just 10 2MW Wind turbines could meet Jubaland's annual electricity consumption which would cost 20m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Maintenance :
Average annual maintenance cost for each turbine is around 200,000$ and when you add training and salaries it shouldn't exceed a few millions per state
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total amount of turbines in the whole country : 80
Total cost of Wind energy in the whole country : less than 200m$
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Wind is extremely cheap for a government to invest in and we have the highest potential on the continent and possibly in the world, so it should be the priority
All of this may not seem cheap to the average reader but trust me for a normal government in the 21st century this should be more than affordable, right now we have the highest electricity cost in Africa and possibly the world, and its truly a shame considering how accesible this new renewable tech is
Electricity cost more in Somalia than in the west and people cant run basic businesses because of the high electricity cost, its like a chain holding the economy back, dirt cheap electricity is guaranteed to make the economy boom as well as generate thousands of jobs for people who work in these solar farms and wind farms
Study on how high electricity cost has a negative impact on Businesses and factories in Bosaso
https://somalipublicagenda.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/SPA_Governance_Briefs_36_2025_ENGLISH1.pdf
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