Sudan's Untapped Solar Potential: 3,000 Hours of Sunshine and a 2,190 MW Target

An Abundance of Sun, a Scarcity of Power.

Sudan receives over 3,000 hours of direct sunshine per year — among the highest solar irradiance levels on the African continent. Yet as of 2023, the country's installed solar photovoltaic capacity stands at just 200 MW, contributing a mere 0.23% of its electricity generation. The remaining grid relies on hydropower (54.6%), thermal generation (39%), and negligible contributions from biomass and wind.

The contrast is stark. A nation with some of the most favourable solar conditions on earth generates almost none of its electricity from the sun.

The Numbers Behind the Opportunity

Sudan's total installed electricity generation capacity sat at approximately 4.5 GW before the conflict that began in April 2023. Electricity consumption per capita was 0.294 MWh — less than one-tenth of the global average. Between 60% and 70% of the population lacked access to electricity entirely, with rural electrification at just 49% compared to 84% in urban centres.

The government's pre-conflict target was ambitious: 2,190 MW of grid-connected solar PV and 50 MW of solar thermal by 2035. A memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development outlined 500 MW of new solar deployment, and two additional 10 MW projects were already under construction.

These targets remain not only relevant but increasingly urgent.

Why Solar Economics Favour Sudan

The financial case for solar in Sudan is compelling. Projected levelised costs for solar PV generation are falling to approximately $35/MWh by 2025 and $25/MWh by 2035 — roughly $0.0376/kWh. Compare this with diesel generation costs of $0.10–$0.12/kWh, a fuel source on which Sudan was spending $1.3 billion annually in imports before the war.

Every megawatt of solar capacity installed directly reduces foreign currency outflows and insulates communities from volatile global fuel markets. For a country that has seen its Al-Jaili refinery suffer $3 billion in damage and oil output halve to 24,000 barrels per day, this economic argument has become existential.

The Engineering Challenges

Building solar at scale in Sudan is not simply a matter of installing panels in the desert. High ambient temperatures reduce PV module efficiency — a challenge our team has studied extensively through environmental chamber testing at London South Bank University, where controlled experiments demonstrated that water cooling combined with fine sand surface treatments can measurably improve output in extreme heat.

Dust accumulation, limited grid infrastructure in rural areas, the logistics of transporting equipment to remote sites, and a shortage of trained installation and maintenance technicians all present real obstacles. These are engineering problems, not insurmountable barriers — and they are precisely the kind of problems that targeted technical expertise can solve.

Decentralised Solar as the First Step

The most immediate opportunity lies not in utility-scale solar farms but in decentralised off-grid systems. Mini-grids and standalone solar installations can deliver electricity to rural health clinics, schools, agricultural operations, and small businesses without waiting for national grid expansion.

The African Development Bank and the World Bank's ASCENT-Sudan project are already moving in this direction, targeting 500 renewable energy systems across public facilities, farms, and telecom networks. These projects demonstrate that progress does not require waiting for large-scale infrastructure — it requires deploying the right systems in the right locations, quickly and reliably.

What Comes Next

Sudan's solar trajectory will be defined by three factors: the speed of post-conflict institutional recovery, the availability of project financing, and the presence of engineering teams with the technical capability to design, install, and maintain systems in demanding conditions.

The sunshine is already there. The economics are already favourable. The question is execution.