Tools and Resources for Scaling-up Mini-/Micro-Grids in Tanzania (Webinar)

The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with United Nations Foundation’s Energy Access Practitioner Network, hosted this webinar to highlight new tools and resources available to mini-grid developers in Tanzania. This is the fifth such webinar in the UN Foundation’s country-focused webinar series that seeks to delve into the state of energy access across different parts of the world, starting with countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) considers Tanzania a “large gap” country—while it has significant energy potential, only 16% of the population currently has access to electricity (41% urban, 4% rural). The Tanzanian government estimates that mini-grids could be the least-cost option for electricity access for 9.1 million people in Tanzania, while off-grid solutions in general could benefit about half of the country’s rural un-electrified population.

To help advance the mini-grid sector in Tanzania, this webinar explored different tools and resources available to mini-grid developers in Tanzania, including:

• Mini-Grid Information Portal: Launched in August 2016 by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Portal provides licensing, financing, regulatory and other information and support to small, renewable power producers in Tanzania who want to sell electricity to consumers, especially to the millions in the country not connected to the main grid.
• Tanzania Energy Access Mapping: The World Resources Institute (WRI) will launch a new GIS tool for Tanzania Energy Access Mapping in July 2017. The mapping efforts are designed to help channel investments while showcasing data on: (i) Energy infrastructure locations (e.g., existing and planned transmission lines and mini-grids); and (ii) Demand characteristics, from the census data (e.g., on mobile phone ownership and household asset ownership to capture socioeconomic level and interest).

Webinar presentations were followed by moderated question and answer session with the panelists, guided by Yasemin Erboy Ruff, United Nations Foundation, followed by a Q&A with the audience. The hashtag #PNwebinar will be used on social media during the webinar.

Watch webinar below

Photo: Rafiki Power