Chad, officially the Republic of Chad is a landlocked country in north-central Africa of 1,284,000 km2 with a population of 14.9 million in 2017. Urban life is concentrated in the capital N'Djamena, whose population is mostly engaged in commerce.

The United Nations' Human Development Index ranks Chad as the seventh poorest country in the world, with 80% of the population living below the poverty line. Over 80% of Chad's population relies on subsistence farming and livestock raising for its livelihood

Energy access for the population is very low with mere 8.8% in 2016. Electricity production in 2015 was 28 ktoe with 96.4 per cent of it generated from fossil fuels.

The energy sector is largely underdeveloped. Chad has the 10th largest oil reserves in Africa. The country is entirely dependent on imports from Nigeria, Cameroon and other neighboring countries..  Traditional solid bio fuels form the biggest share of renewable sources. Chad is thought to have large on-shore wind potential. This is unusual for a land-locked country, but in this case, Chad’s topography gives rise to high-speed winds at certain high altitudes, thus enabling the potential for wind energy generation. There is also the potential for solar energy generation in Chad, especially in the north. Chad has daily solar radiation ranging between 4 and 6 kWh/m2, offering a significant energy resource. Solar energy is primarily used for solar cooking . The majority of the country has a global irradiation of 2,000 – 2,400 kWh/ m2, rising to over 2,800 kWh/ m2 in some areas.