The report highlights the crucial need for detailed assessments to identify and prioritise zombie energy systems for decommissioning or modernisation. The research organisation state that these energy systems are outdated, inefficient, and environmentally harmful.

These include, they say, ageing and natural gas power plants, obsolete hydroelectric dams and poorly maintained transmission grids, as well as secondhand appliances and vehicles.

The report indicates that these systems persist despite their detrimental impact on progress, depleting resources and delaying economic and climate goals.

“These ZES hinder Africa’s energy transition, yet they receive limited attention in the international energy development arena. Rooted in colonial-era legacies, economic constraints, and policy shortcomings, these energy systems have led to a persistent misalignment between energy supply and development goals, perpetuating energy poverty and limiting economic growth.”

The report states that in addition to colonial legacy issues, today, many energy projects in Africa suffer from inadequate planning and execution.

“A typical example of a ZES in Africa resulting from inadequate planning and execution is Nigeria’s electricity generation and transmission system. Despite having an installed electricity generation capacity of approximately 16GW, the transmission system in Nigeria can only effectively transmit around 7.5GW of power.

“This disparity between generation capacity and transmission capacity reflects a failure in planning and execution, leading to an inefficient use of resources and infrastructure.”

Zombie systems are a hidden bottleneck on Africa’s energy progress

According to the Clean Air Task Force (CATF), these energy systems are a hidden bottleneck on Africa’s energy progress, wasting financial and energy resources , contributing to energy poverty, and misaligning with climate and development goals.

The CATF is a global nonprofit organisation working to protect against the worst impacts of climate change.

“For the energy transformation in Africa to succeed, we need to phase out these inefficient systems, modernise existing , infrastructure and mobilise the resources necessary for restoring or repurposing Zombie Energy Systems,” said Michael Dioha, Senior Energy Researcher at CATF.