Tanzania's Rural Energy Agency will join global summit in Dar Es Salaam

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania - Nov. 29, 2017 - PRLog -- Tanzania is fast becoming East Africa's source of new green minigrid developments and the Rural Energy Agency has been responsible for stimulating this exciting market. A recent report by the World Resources Institute in Washington pinpointed 109 mini-grids — serving over 180,000 people in the country. The country's 157.7MW of mini-grid installed capacity includes hydro, biomass, hybrid, fossil fuel and solar systems.

2018 will see activity increase with over 50 projects which have been identified by PV-Tech's publisher, Solar Media. Of these, many will be based on green generation, mainly solar PV and hydro and this will see both displacement of diesel and an increase in the number of homes and businesses with access to electricity.

The Rural Energy Agency is an autonomous body which sits under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Energy and Minerals. October 2017 saw its tenth year of operation and its stated role is to promote and facilitate rural energy development. The agency has been working closely with industry in Tanzania to stimulate the minigrid market.

In 2008, Tanzania adopted a new regulatory system designed to spur low-cost investment in mini-grids, called the small power producers (SPP) framework, which caused the number of mini-grids to double. The financial system created a feed-in tariff that favored biomass and hydro development.

However, a 2015 revision to the policy encouraged solar and wind development. On 29 June 2017 Tanzania's Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA), the national regulator, approved a third generation mini-grid framework.

This new generation mini-grid framework brought in several improvements – such as allowing mini-grids at multiple locations to acquire a single license (over 1MW) or registration for mini-grids using the same technology (less than 1MW); defining eligible customers that need not have their tariffs reviewed by EWURA; providing for provisional registrations for mini-grids; allowing grid-connected mini-grids to operate in islanded mode when power supply is not available from the main grid; and, providing additional clarity and credibility on the calculation of compensation for distribution assets when the main grid connects to a previously isolated mini-grid.

Both government agencies will speak at the Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Summit which takes place on 5-6 December in Dar Es Salaam. Over 200 attendees will be present, including Jumeme, Rift Valley Power, Fenix International, PowerGen, Redavia, Rafiki Power, Engie, Devergy, Ensol, PowerHive, Solarcentury, GIZ, FMO, Crossboundary, Finnfund, Swedfund and many more.

About the Summit
The Solar & Off-Grid Renewables Summit is in its 10^th edition. Over 200 attendees and 55 speakers will attend on 5-6 December at the Hyatt Regency Kilimanjaro in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
More information can be seen here: http://sogr-africa.solarenergyevents.com/