Ministry to Propose Bids Worth $2m Due to High Demand for Solar Systems

The rural electrification under the Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE) is to float bids for the supply of solar home systems (SHS), solar lanterns and health institution solar systems that are to be bought with a two-million dollar support from the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) facility. The systems and the lanterns, which are to be distributed to the four less-developed regions of Ethiopia, are 4,000 SHS, 8,000 solar lanterns, and 24 health center solar systems, according to Yisihak Seboka, the Ministry’s Rural Electrification main coordinator. The assessment that was done by the Ministry’s alternative energy directorate indicated the overall demand of solar systems and the lanterns in the regions. The tender for the supply of the equipment will be floated in two week’s time and the distribution will be done according to the demand of the regions. The demand from the four regions is a total of 6,000 SHS, 2,000 lanterns from each region and 24 solar systems for the health institutions, according to an expert at the directorate.  The four regions that are going to benefit from the new solar systems and lanterns are Gambella, Benishangul Gumuz, Afar and Somali regions whose need assessment was carried out two weeks ago by the office’s experts, according to the aforementioned source at the office. Previously this year, through the International Development Assistance (IDA) fund of 2.8 million dollars, the Ministry had bought 11, 488 SHS to distribute to households that are members of the 207 cooperatives in different regions. Oromia, Amhara and the Southern regional states were the biggest beneficiaries from that purchase, obtaining 2,861, 2,654, and 2,346 SHS, respectively. Tigray gets 1,217, Gambella 694, Benishangul Gumuz 494, Harari 487, Diredawa 385, Somali 250, and Afar 100. The five-year Growth and Transformation plan for the SHS is to reach 150,000 residences and electrify 3,000 rural institutions. The bid for the purchase of the new systems is to be National Competitive Bid (NCB), which will invite only local firms so as to encourage local companies. The previous bid, by which 11, 488 solar home systems were bought, was an International Competitive Bid (ICB), in which a Chinese company Cecep Oasis won and supplied the required materials. Ethiopia, which plans to generate 10,000MW of electricity by the end of the five-year growth and transformation plan that will end this year, has a power supply that stands at 2,268MW. The country is said to have the capacity of generating 45,000MW of hydropower, 1,000MW of geothermal energy, and 10,000MW from wind and solar energy according to the Ethiopian Electric Power website. The CRGE fund of the 2014/15 fiscal year for the MoWIE is six million dollars, which is all to be used in financing alternative energy sources in the country. The budget for the current purchase is two million dollars from the same fund. The CRGE Facility is a financial mechanism set up by the Government of Ethiopia to support the implementation of the Climate Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) Strategy and the development and implementation of CRGE Investment Plans.  The Facility is based in, and overseen by, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED). The main role of the Facility is to mobilize domestic and international sources of finance for the implementation of the CRGE Strategy and to manage results-based payments generated from projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including carbon credits.