RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT

Context

The present electricity supply in Burundi is derived principally from thermal and hydropower sources. Electricity access in Burundi is still low. Burundi is one of the least electrified countries globally currently at 7% overall, with 49% of the urban and only 1% of the rural population connected to electricity. The World Bank estimates the national access to clean cooking solutions at <1%.

The energy situation is characterized by insufficient power supply to meet the demand, preventing economic takeoff. The use of firewood is the main energy source for most artisanal or industrial activities and for cooking fuel for the main majority of the population.

Besides the low generating capacity, the key problem of the whole energy sector of Burundi is the scarcity of technical and management skills, which affects the prospects for developing the country’s energy resources.

 

Ubuntu village of Life is aiming:

• 25% of households in Burundi rural areas, get access to electricity through grid and off grid solutions by 2030. This will be done through solar power. Households located in a significant distance away from the grid or those consuming insufficient electricity to make a grid connection financially viable will be advised to get access through off-grid solutions such as minigrids, micro hydropower plants, domestic BioGas digesters or solar Power solutions.

 

2.3 SOLAR ENERGY project

 

It is possible for people to access electricity without the need to connect to the Electricity grid network. In such instance electricity is provided through off-grid solutions ranging from solar lanterns for lighting and charging phones to power from small hydro installations. These solutions will not provide the voltage or the stability provided through a grid connection but are often far more economical for low usage consumers due to reduced capital costs. UVL plans to ensure that 25% of households have electricity from either of the two off-grid (hydro and solar) systems by 2030. More than 80% of schools have no access to electricity and are located at distances greater than 5Km from the national interconnected grid. To ease the integration of ICT in education, UVL has initiated an ICT program in Education “one laptop per child” in primary schools Burundi but the main challenge to date, is the lack of access to electricity. UVL has initiated an on-going project of supplying and installing solar PV equipment in 300 rural schools located at distances greater than 5km from the national interconnected grid), solar energy can be used as a source of electricity required by “One Laptop per Child” program, in rural primary schools. It is in this regard, that UVL would like to electrify more schools with Solar PV systems. To achieve this, each primary school will be equipped with a PV array of at least 2.5 kWp that will provide sufficient electrical energy for IT equipment and lighting. Solar PV installation includes; PV modules, Charge regulators, Solar batteries, Inverters, lightening arresters, Differential circuit breakers, Junction boxes, Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL) and other accessories such as cables, plugs, switches, supports etc. UVL is looking for donors to make sure this target of solar coverage to all schools is achieved by 2030.