In 2023, fossil fuels supplied about 44% of Gabon’s electricity consumption, including almost 30% from gas. Low-carbon electricity accounted for roughly 41%, almost entirely from hydropower, which supplied about 40%. Net imports covered the remaining 15%; the data do not identify whether this imported electricity was low-carbon or fossil-based. Gabon therefore has a substantial clean electricity foundation, but fossil fuels still account for the largest share.

Is Electricity Growing in Gabon?

Electricity consumption per person is not currently growing: at about 1,517 kWh in 2023, it was roughly 1% below the record of 1,535 kWh reached in 2022. Low-carbon electricity generation stood at 616 kWh per person, about 200 kWh—or a quarter—below its 1985 peak of 817 kWh. These figures show a worrying lack of progress in electricity availability per person, especially clean electricity, although they do not establish whether total national consumption increased or declined. Expanding clean generation would help support electrification and future electricity demand.

Suggestions

Gabon can build on its hydropower foundation by expanding solar electricity, assessing suitable wind resources, and considering nuclear generation through long-term planning and regional cooperation. Nearby Congo-Kinshasa, where solar supplies about 13% of electricity generation, offers a relevant regional reference, while Namibia’s roughly 11% solar share provides another African example. Kenya and Morocco demonstrate wind’s contribution, at about 13% and 20%, respectively. For nuclear electricity, Gabon could study France, where nuclear supplies about two-thirds of generation, and the United Arab Emirates, where it supplies one-fifth. These regions offer lessons rather than identical blueprints: solar deployment, grid investment, and the development of nuclear expertise could help Gabon increase clean electricity and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, along with their climate and air-pollution impacts.

History

Gabon’s recorded low-carbon electricity history is dominated by hydropower. In the early and mid-1980s, generation increased by 0.1 TWh in each of 1981, 1982, 1984, and 1985, while 1995 recorded no change. The 2000s brought uneven progress: a 0.1 TWh increase in 2001 and no change in 2002 were followed by alternating declines and gains of 0.1 TWh between 2005 and 2009. Similar fluctuations continued in the early and mid-2010s, with declines in 2011 and 2014 offset by gains the following years. A much stronger increase of 0.4 TWh arrived in 2019, followed by gains of 0.1 TWh in both 2020 and 2022, with no change in 2021. Those later additions were encouraging, but sustained expansion is needed to lift clean electricity generation per person above its longstanding peak.

Electricity Imports and Exports

Balance of Trade