In principle, power sector businesses have responsibility and direct interest in protecting their own assets and providing reliable services to their customers. It inevitably raises the question of who should be responsible for delivering resilience measures and pay for them. The benefits of climate resilience and the costs of climate impacts tend to be distributed unevenly across the electricity value chain. Adopting climate resilience measures contributes to sustainable development and clean energy transitions This is especially the case in countries whose electricity infrastructure is vulnerable to changes in climate and extreme weather events. A lack of resilience in electricity systems can also obstruct clean energy transitions, as some renewable energy technologies could be sensitive to a changing climate. The adoption of climate resilience measures, such as an improved system for monitoring climate hazards and a strategy for diversifying the electricity generating mix, would help Zambia to ensure reliable access to power networks.Įlectricity plays a critical role in the transition to a low-carbon energy system. The disruption occurred again in August 2019, when the Kariba station needed to reduce output and impose daily blackouts. In February 2016 the water levels of the Kariba Dam, the biggest electricity source of Zambia, dropped by 88%, prompting blackouts, power rationing and a slowdown in economic development in some places. A shorter rainy season and more frequent droughts are posing a challenge to hydropower generation which currently accounts for more than 80% of electricity generation in Zambia. In Zambia, for instance, where only 30-40% of the population have access to electricity (World Bank, 2020), the electricity system is already adversely affected by climate change. Future changes in climate may significantly limit progress towards universal electricity access, which is one of the objectives of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), by restricting resource availability, reducing generation and transmission efficiency, and increasing possibilities of outages. According to the IEA World Energy Outlook 2019, about 840 million people around the world are still deprived of electricity access. The projected increase in climate hazards poses a major threat to meeting universal electricity access, which is one of the objectives of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7. More resilient electricity systems reduce damage and loss from climate impacts In Bangladesh, a country highly prone to floods, USD 560 million for additional flood protection could save up to USD 1.6 billion in avoided damage. In California, where wildfires are a major threat, good forest maintenance can minimise the impacts of wildfires on transmission and distribution lines. Governments can support efforts to reduce the damage and cost of climate impacts by introducing tailored measures aimed at the specific types of climate hazards they are facing. Moreover, the socio-economic losses due to the interruptions were estimated at EUR 3 billion. Due to the lengthy outages, Swedish network operators lost around EUR 250 million. When storm Gudrun hit Sweden in January 2005, outages in rural areas lasted up to 20 days due to the damaged distribution lines, while those in urban areas with underground cabling lasted only a few hours. Transmission and distribution lines above ground tend to be more vulnerable to climate hazards such as high-speed winds, wildfires, floods and landslides, than underground systems. According to the World Bank, if the actions needed for resilience are delayed by ten years, the cost will almost double.įor instance, underground transmission and distribution cables, which require a higher upfront outlay than above-ground systems, can significantly reduce potential damage from climate impacts and save recovery costs. It is estimated that for every dollar invested in climate-resilient infrastructure, six dollars can be saved. Recent studies suggest that the benefits of resilient electricity systems are much greater than the costs in most of the scenarios considering the growing impacts of climate change.
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