Capacity building
Rural electrification. Information systems N/A
Capacity Building for off-grid rural electrification planning at the regional level in Ethiopia
| Country : | Ethiopia . |
| Client : | EUEI PDF - Partnership Dialogue Facility. |
| Start Date : | 2008 |
| Completion Date : | 2008 |
| Value of services : | 185,765 € |
| Funder : | European Union (EUEI PDF Partnership Dialogue Facility) |
| Associate/Partner : | MAGE |
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| Description : |
Access to electricity in Ethiopia is very low and stands at 6% at the national level. Only 15% of the population lives in areas with some kind of electricity supply, and in rural areas access rates are below 2%. The lack of access to electricity in rural areas is an obstacle to rural development for productive use and to improve the provision of improved public services. The Ethiopian government is responding to this situation by a major grid extension programme implemented by the national utility EEPCo. The areas not targeted by this programme are supposed to be electrified with decentralised systems. The investment for the rural electrification schemes are meant to be made by private actors and local communities and supported by the Rural Electrification Executive Secretariat (REES). With support from the World Bank, REES has developed an indicative off-grid electrification master plan and a tool for off-grid electrification planning. This tool consists of a GIS database and related simulation tools (GEOSIM) with information on social and other infrastructures, settlement patterns as well as agro-ecological zones and allows to identify areas where investments in off-grid electrification systems would be viable. It can assist decision-makers to decide which areas should be targeted for off-grid electrification. The objective of this project was to assist the REES to enable the regional energy bureaus and the regional cooperative bureaus in all eight regions of Ethiopia to use the master plan and the tool for informing potential project champions (e.g. cooperatives, private investors) about the potential of the most attractive electrification sites and to update the master plan regularly. |
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| Description of the Actual Services Provided | • Training session in Addis Ababa: 10 day training session to three representatives from each of Ethiopia’s eight regions in the utilisation of the GIS database and GEOSIM. The regional representatives were from the Regional Energy Bureaus, the regional Bureaus of Finance and Economic Development (BoFED) and from the Regional Cooperative Commissions. The trainings will also be attended by four representatives from REES. • Installation of GEOSIM in the regions : REES will provide the licence for GEOSIM to all Regional Energy Bureaus in Ethiopia and assist them in the installation of the tool. During the missions, REES will also present the off-grid electrification master plan and explain how it can be used to promote rural electrification projects and to coordinate with other planning activities. • Definition of modalities for data exchange and validation : The consultants will assist REES to define the modalities for mutual data exchange between the regions and REES in order to ensure that both sides continuously have access to up-to-date data. The consultants will also test these modalities with a first batch of data provided by REES and the Regional Energy Bureaus. • Pilot local off-grid rural electrification plan: a pilot zone was selected to develop a local off-grid rural electrification plan. In the selected zone, the Consultant will assist the local planners to carry out field surveys to collect data, to develop an electrification plan and discuss the proposed electrification plan and options at a workshop with local stakeholders. |