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

10.07.2017

The United Nations Foundation's Energy Access Practitioner Network, in partnership with the Clean Energy Solutions Center, is hosting a 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 will explore 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 will be 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. 

Panelists

  • Yasemin Erboy Ruff, Senior Officer, United Nations Foundation, will introduce the topic and provide context to the broader country focus webinar series.
  • Andrew Mnzava, Operations Officer, IFC, will provide an overview of the IFC Tanzania Mini-Grids program and the progress that has been made to-date, along with a demonstration of the Mini-Grids Information Portal.
  • Sanjoy Sanyal, Senior Associate Clean Energy Finance, World Resources Institute, will demonstrate the use of a new series of interactive Tanzania Energy Access Maps which feature existing and proposed energy infrastructure and utilize Census data to identify energy access gaps.

Register now