Africa-Press – Lesotho. The Minister of Energy, Prof. Nqosa Mahao together with the European Union (EU) Ambassador to Lesotho, Ms. Paola Amadei undertook a familiarisation tour of a mini-grid site at Matsoaing in Mokhotlong on Wednesday.
The mini-grid is one of the many that are being constructed by One Power Company, a renewable energy startup that provides affordable and reliable electricity services to off-grid communities, helping families, schools, health clinics and local businesses to thrive.
During the familiarisation, the Minister who also interacted with community representatives already connected commended One Power for implementing the project of the mini-grids to help Basotho to have access to electricity through renewable energy. Prof.
Mahao asked the representatives whether they were happy about the use of electricity at their homes and they were quick to say “Yes we are happy” adding that their standard of living has changed from using candles to just having to switch on the plugs for lighting.
The Minister also visited one household belonging to Mrs. ‘Maliepollo Leotla (78) at Ha Makau to switch on the light for the first time after One Power connected her. Mrs. Leotla who looked overwhelmed said she was happy about the electricity, but she could not use it because she feared that it would burn her.
Even after she was shown how easy it was to switch on and off the lights, Leotla was still not convinced that she will use it for cooking or ironing as she still maintained that she enjoys using wood for cooking and heating the iron.
It was on that observation that the Minister noted that education on the use and benefits of electricity is needed to help customers like Mrs. Leotla to transform from traditional to modern ways of living.
On the other hand, the EU Ambassador thanked the Minister for the interest shown in the project and pointed out that the EU will continue to fund companies like One Power to increase the uptake of sustainable energy in the country and internationally.
The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Matt Orosz said the company whose headquarters is in Lesotho, capitalises on technical design and vertical integration to customise, build and operate energy systems that are both economically and environmentally sustainable for Basotho.
He said so far there are 105 customers connected and when the project is completed the target is to connect 900 customers in the Matsoaing area while 10,000 customers have been targeted countrywide.
The Mini-grid at Matsoaing was commissioned in March last year and it has been supported with funds by the Lesotho government, EU and UNDP to mention some of the investors.
A similar tour will take place at Likhang in the Tlhanyaku area in Mokhotlong on Thursday. 54 customers are reported to have already been connected at the mini grid constructed at Likhang.
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