It is working on developing solar energy, hydropower energy, and wind energy systems in Ethiopia. The installation will serve as a backup system in areas where electricity is available and as a source of energy in areas where electricity is not available.
The GTZ project Access to Modern Energy Service Ethiopia (AMES-E) is installing photovoltaic (PV) solar systems in 100 off grid areas, with an emphasis on public health centres in remote areas throughout Ethiopia. These PV solar systems will provide enough energy for refrigerating vaccines, inpatient and outpatient examinations as well as powering microscopes and other medical technologies.
Places like Gebato, Ererta, Hagera Sodita, Aleta Wondo, all in the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples (SNNP) Regional State, have all been given small-scale hydroelectricity facilities to provide power to schools, hospitals and homes. Payment for services provided to these users will be made to the Water Development Institution located in each of these places. The institution received a temporary certificate from the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to allow them to collect service fees till it is issued a formal license.
"The service fee will go up after the institution has fixed a new price," Habitamu Hailu, Hawassa project manager to the GTZ told Fortune.
In addition to this, AMES-E partners with local nongovernmental organisations, such as Selam Vocational Training and NATS Centre for Technology and Skill Development, to pilot the assembly and eventually manufacture of micro hydroelectric turbines and create a workshop facility for testing the materials.
There are now at least three private companies that have joined the market, including Lydetco solar company and SolarNow, which are local, and Sola23, a German company. The GTZ facilitates training for stakeholders using international experts. Currently, a professor from Bangladesh is in Ethiopia for this purpose.
The Ethiopian Energy Agency (EEA) and the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME) are also working on a bill for investments in solar powered backup systems to help during electricity failures. The bill, now in its third draft, is expected to be passed by parliament, according to Joachim Gaube, project head at the GTZ's Accesss to Modern Energy Coordination Office.
The GTZ has been installing and equipping solar energy in rural and remote areas of the country for the past two and half years with the financial support of Dutch and Germen governments. The Ethiopian government facilitates the work. The technology faculties of Hawasa and Jimma universities are also closely working with the GTZ to introduce the technology to locals.
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