
Energy consumption in Lesotho
The most important measure in the energy balance of Lesotho is the total consumption of847.30 million kWh
of electric energy per year. Per capita this is an average of 396 kWh.Lesotho can partly provide itself with self-produced energy. The total production of all electric energy producing facilities is 510 m kWh. That is 60% of the countries own usage. The rest of the needed energy is imported from foreign countries. Along with pure consumptions the production, imports and exports play an important role. Other energy sources such as natural gas or crude oil are also used.
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Energy Balance
Electricity | total | Lesotho per capita | USA per capita |
---|---|---|---|
Own consumption | 847.30 m kWh | 395.52 kWh | 11,842.76 kWh |
Production | 510.00 m kWh | 238.07 kWh | 12,428.52 kWh |
Import | 373.00 m kWh | 174.12 kWh | 220.71 kWh |
44.6% of the country's population (as of 2019) has access to electricity.In rural areas, the share was 32.2% |
Carbon footprint
CO2 emissions in 2018 | Lesotho per capita | USA per capita | |
---|---|---|---|
total | 2.57 m t | 1.22 t | 15.12 t |
Development of CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2018 in million tons
See also: CO2 equivalents by country

Production capacities per energy source
The given production capacities for electric energy have a theoretical value, which could only be obtainable under ideal conditions. They are measuring the generatable amount of energy, that would be reached under permanent and full use of all capacities of all power plants. In practice this isn't possible, because e.g. solar collectors are less efficient unter clouds. Also wind- and water-power plants are not always operating under full load. All these values are only useful in relation to other energy sources or countries.Energy source | total in Lesotho | percentage in Lesotho | percentage USA | per capita in Lesotho | per capita USA |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fossil fuels | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 70,0 % | 0.00 kWh | 20,230.06 kWh |
Nuclear power | 0.00 kWh | 0,0 % | 9,0 % | 0.00 kWh | 2,601.01 kWh |
Water power | 704.30 m kWh | 100,0 % | 7,0 % | 328.77 kWh | 2,023.01 kWh |
Renewable energy | 7.04 m kWh | 1,0 % | 14,0 % | 3.29 kWh | 4,046.01 kWh |
Total production capacity | 704.30 m kWh | - | 100,0 % | 328.77 kWh | 28,900.09 kWh |
Actual total production | 510.00 m kWh | 72.4 % | 43.0 % | 238.07 kWh | 12,428.52 kWh |
Note: The sum of each data in this table adds up to 101.00 percent and may not be accurate. Worlddata.info receives this data from the US Office of Public Affairs (CIA) and will not make any presumptuous changes to it.
Usage of renewable energies
Renewable energies include wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy sources. This means all energy sources that renew themselves within a short time or are permanently available. Energy from hydropower is only partly a renewable energy. This is certainly the case with river or tidal power plants. Otherwise, numerous dams or reservoirs also produce mixed forms, e.g. by pumping water into their reservoirs at night and recovering energy from them during the day when there is an increased demand for electricity. Since it is not possible to clearly determine the amount of generated energy, all energies from hydropower are displayed separately.In 2018, renewable energies accounted for around 38.4 percent of actual total consumption in Lesotho. The following chart shows the percentage share from 1990 to 2018:
