Eritrea
ERIEritrea has about as many people as Qatar, and 142 times less electricity to share between them.
3.5 million people against 3.1 million, but 127 kWh per person a year against 18,030.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 3 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Eritrea generates almost exactly what it uses, with next to nothing crossing its borders.
What this means
Electricity can be sold across a border like anything else, through high-voltage lines connecting one country's grid to the next. Buying it in means leaning on a neighbour to keep the lights on. Selling it means generating more than the country needs.
Also true of Eritrea
Eritrea's electricity is dirtier than the world average.
578 grams of CO2e a kilowatt-hour against a world figure of 458 — 26% above.
Eritrea runs almost entirely on oil.
89% of its electricity comes from one source.
Eritrea has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 0% to 11% in 10 years.
Eritrea’s neighbours
DjiboutiDjibouti is among the world's biggest wind and solar producers and still burns fossil fuels for most of its power.
SudanSudan has about as many people as South Korea, and 41 times less electricity to share between them.
EthiopiaEthiopia runs almost entirely on hydro.
YemenYemen has about as many people as Canada, and 126 times less electricity to share between them.
Saudi ArabiaGas overtook oil on Saudi Arabia's grid in 2016.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Eritrea. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.