Energy Resources
Currently, the Comoros lacks an overall energy “master plan”. The government has instituted a program called ‘Harnessing of Energy’, and has pursued policies to reduce the theft and fraud of energy.
The principal source of energy in the Comoros is wood, which satisfies 78 percent of the country’s energy needs, followed by hydrocarbons, which satisfy 20 percent of energy needs. Other sources of energy, such as electricity and butane gas, account for only a negligible portion of Comorian household consumption. Firewood remains the main source of energy for meal preparation; approximately two-thirds of households use it for this purpose. The main features of the energy sector are low overall consumption, which reflects a low level of economic development, market dependence on wood fuels, which contributes to land degradation, and a recent marked increase in imported petroleum consumption, which increases the cost of energy. Electricity production is mainly conducted through the use of thermal energy stations on the islands, and the energy sector experiences a low overall rate of return on investment of less than 50 percent. Added to this is a loss of approximately 45% of electricity production capacity due to fraud and technical deficits in the networks. These issues are exacerbated by the small size of the energy market, which restricts the possibilities for economies of scale, creates higher consumer prices, and limits the sector’s ability to attract financing to improve the production of existing stations. Studies on potential solar, wind, hydroelectric and geothermal energy have been completed and show great promise for future renewable energy investment, but currently are not exploited in any form.
