Mini-grids Can Accelerate Access to Modern Electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mini-grids are electrical generation and distribution systems of less than 10 megawatts (MW) that serve customers through local distribution networks.
Tanzania
WRI engages in clean energy, land and resource rights, access to information and electricity governance issues in Tanzania. Learn more about our Charge project, Land and Resource Rights Initiative, The Access Initiative and Electricity Governance Initiative.
A new report, Accelerating Mini-grid Deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from Tanzania, was released at a daylong event in Dar es Salaam featuring remarks from Edward L. Ishengoma, Assistant Commissioner for Renewable Energy for the Government of Tanzania. The report finds that Tanzania now has 109 mini-grids, serving over 180,000 people.
Data on markets is crucial to help energy entrepreneurs find customers, but in developing countries, that information can be hard to access. A new mapping system and other tools help identify areas where demand is concentrated.
Tanzania Energy Access Maps
Tanzania Energy Access Maps is an interactive tool that allows users to explore economic indicators and energy sector data in Tanzania’s regions and districts. Energy entrepreneurs and electricity planners in Tanzania can use the maps to identify areas most viable for investments in clean energy.
Accelerating Mini-grid Deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: Lessons from Tanzania
For communities across sub-Saharan Africa, a consistent and affordable supply of electricity can open new possibilities for socioeconomic progress. Mini-grids—electrical generation and distribution systems of less than 10 megawatts—can play a role. These decentralized technologies are expected...
More than 180,000 rural residents get electricity through Tanzania's mini-grids. A new WRI report details how this promising technology has expanded, and examines its potential for other sub-Saharan nations.
Electricity planners often confront the energy access gap by increasing supply, without considering how consumers actually use and pay for electricity. Creating a lasting solution is actually far more complicated.
WRI energy experts Lily Odarno and Sanjoy Sanyal discuss how advances in data, technology and finance can bring power to the 600 million sub-Saharan Africans lacking access.