Posted on :Tuesday , 13th June 2017

Solar power revolution is happening in Tanzania with a new study indicating that more than half (65 per cent) of rural households that have access to electricity use solar.

 The Energy Access Situation Report 2016 released earlier this week by the National Bureau of Statistics and the Rural Energy Agency shows that grid electricity is the second largest source of power in rural areas with 34.5 per cent of households connected.

 "The results show that solar power is the dominant electricity source in rural areas as 64.8 per cent of the rural households were using electricity generated from solar power. Private entity and individual electricity generated from own sources (excluding solar) was the least source of electricity among rural households at 0.6 per cent," part of the report reads.

 Generally, electricity access (to any form of electricity) in rural areas has improved from 6.1 per cent in 2011 to 16.9 per cent in 2016, the Energy Access Situation Report shows. This means that 83.1 per cent of households in rural areas remain without access to any form of electricity despite the huge potential of solar power in electrifying rural areas. 

"One general observation from this data is that more efforts are needed to improve the accessibility of modern energies to rural residents in order to achieve sets of energy targets by 2030 as stipulated in 2015 Energy Policy," the report says.

 It also shows that generally 24.7 per cent of the households with access to electricity in Tanzania use solar energy as a source of power. In urban areas, only about 3.4 per cent of the households use solar power as the only source of power.

East African states have been asked to invest more resources in the development of renewable power projects like solar energy where the region has a better comparative advantage as compared to Hydropower which is more expensive to finance.

 Development partners say the climate conditions in some countries within the community such as Uganda supports the development of solar power but the country has not yet exploited such opportunities which have kept Uganda depending too much on Hydropower and biomass as sources of Energy. This all shows the potential in the market and how the Government is also investing towards the growth of this sector.

In this context, Tanzanias Solar Africa Exhibition 2017 will kick off its 03^rd edition on August 15-18, 2017 at The Mlimani Conference Center with participation from over 15 countries including Egypt, China, Turkey, Italy, India and United Arab Emirates.

It is supported by East African Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture. The event’s strategic partners are Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, Emirates, Confederation of Tanzania Industries, and Tanzania Trade Development Authority.

The Event will consist of over 80 Exhibitors who will showcase their latest wares to thousands of trade buyers and decision makers from throughout the Middle East, Africa, and further afield, with the biggest aftermarket brands on-board, spread over 15 product categories, Solar Technology and Manufacturing, Project Installations, Solar Panels, Storage/Batteries to name a few.

With more than 80 exhibitors combined, Solar Technology and Manufacturing and Solar Panels comprise the largest portion of Solar Africa Tanzania, and features global stalwarts such as Nessa- India, Turkab- Turkey,  Foshan Sun-Rise- China to name a few.

Krishan Avtar Garg Managing Director- Spacechem Engineers Pvt. Ltd, India had some thoughts on last year’s Solar Africa “Solar is an upcoming industry. There is an inflation point, number of government initiatives and also distribution shortages. SOLAREXPO is a nice platform to bring together people, government officials, regulatory agencies and industry players all under one roof”

Shantanu Dutta Sales & Marketing- Solarway F.Z.E., U.A.E said “SOLAREXPO has been an influential platform for us to showcase our technology innovations. The event gave us an access to reach out to our prospective partners. So also the government is coming up with favorable policies that will benefit companies and industry at large.”

Deepak Kumar Manager- Luminous Power Technologies Pvt. Ltd, India said “Africa's solar future looks promising with enormous untapped potential. SOLAREXPO served as a platform to discuss and display technology that can help in harnessing this potential.”

SOLAR AFRICA brings together domestic and international solar players with East African commercial and industrial power users to explore grid-tied and off-grid commercially viable opportunities. Serving as forum to connect local developers with international partners and investors the conference aims to create well capitalized and experienced partnerships who can deliver high quality in a timely manner to the East African region.

Connect with the right people for your company; this is just a beginning of greater opportunities. There is no better place to be for getting market players, decision makers and investors in one room, especially in this region that has huge potential.

SOLAR AFRICA will continue to deliver growth to your business and to East Africa for years to come. It will be a combination of attendees, speakers, exhibitors and hours of networking. So you can mark your calendars, as the 2017 SOLAR AFRICA CONFERENCE awaits.

Do not miss out on this unrivalled opportunity to network within industry peers and discuss and define the future of the East African Solar industry, be sure to be there.