SINOSOAR Successfully won the bid of EEU Package II(B) Solar Mini-Grids (Generation) Projects in 7 mini-grids in Ethiopia funded by the World Bank

Recently, SINOSOAR successfully won the bid of EEU Package II(B) Solar Mini–Grids (Generation) Projects in 7 mini grids in Ethiopia funded by the World Bank. The project, which is part of the Ethiopian Government’s National Electrification Plan (NEP), includes the design, supply, installation, commissioning and operation and maintenance of seven solar Mini–Grids projects. Upon completion of the project, it will provide a safe and stable power supply to more than 20,000 people in the rural area.

Ethiopia aims to reach universal electricity access by 2025 in accordance with the National Electrification Program. The GoE launched its National Electrification Strategy (NES) in June 2016. The NES defined the strategic priorities for sustainable energy sector development and scaling-up electrification. The GoE’s ‘National Electrification Program’ (NEP) will support the implementation of the electrification program and will be carried out in phases based on a least-cost, spatial-proximity targeting methodology. The National Electrification Program (NEP) represents the Government of Ethiopia implementation roadmap and investment prospectus supporting the GTP II targets of achieving universal access by 2025 and the status of a middle-income country through diversification and modernization of the economy.

The NEP takes a comprehensive approach to electrification through a balance of on-grid and off-grid service provisioning as well as public and private sector led interventions. Moreover, the NEP also aims to address the institutional and technical bottlenecks through a comprehensive set of program implementation support activities to be carried out in the near term to ensure the achievement of the targets. Projections indicate that on-grid service will remain the primary delivery modality while off-grid penetration is expected to peak by 2025, serving 35 percent of the population, and then tapering off to be a relatively marginal solution by 2030.

Government of Ethiopia, Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) has received grant and loan from the International Development Association (IDA)/the World Bank to implement the Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia Project as part of national electrification plan. The Access to Distributed Electricity and Lighting in Ethiopia Project (ADELE) project will support off-grid electrification benefiting deep-rural and rural areas, in alignment with the NEP 2.0 vision, primarily toward off-grid electrification in deep-rural and rural areas targeted at social and geographical inclusion.

The project will particularly target those households that were left behind in previous electrification initiatives. The project will expand the geographic footprint of electrification into unserved areas by leveraging decentralized renewable energy technologies, in particular solar photovoltaic (PV) mini-grids and individual OGS system for both household and productive use. Larger population centers, especially those with productive use potential, will be targeted for mini-grids.

In addition, the mini-grids supported under the project will be located far away from the grid, targeting more rural, remote, and poorer communities. The financing under this project will bridge the gap between affordability levels of rural mini-grid customers and the costs of the developers.