Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA has allocated 78bn/- for scaling the use of renewable energies, as the country enhances climate change mitigation.
Managed by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), the project will be executed in seven regions including Dar es Salaam, Coast, Morogoro, Dodoma, Tanga, Mwanza and Tabora.
Reports show that 50 per cent of all the harvested charcoal within the country is consumed in Dar es Salaam.
Speaking at the launch of the project in Dodoma recently, the European Union Ambassador to Tanzania Manfredo Fanti, said a sum of 17 million Euros will be used to improve cooking technology especially in urban areas, whereby the use of charcoal is at its peak.
“The project aims to scale up the use of renewable energy for cooking and help Tanzanian families adhere to the principles of safe cooking,” said Ambassador Fanti during the onset of a stakeholder workshop on climate resilience through renewable energy organized by EU and the Tanzania Renewable Energy Association (TAREA).
On his part, the Deputy Minister for Energy, Mr Stephen Byabato, urged Small Power Producers (SPP) to focus on the implementation of better technologies and promote innovative energy efficiency techniques so that the products produced are competitive and affordable for end users. Mr Byabato disclosed that renewable energy is among the most effective sources and both human and environmentally friendly.
According to the deputy minister, currently renewable energy is only produced at a very small quantity in the country, but the government’s plan is to generate up to 150megawatts from solar and wind sources. “By 2025, the government aims to generate up to 1,100megawatts from renewable energy sources,” noted Mr Byabato.
The workshop gathered 100 stakeholders including government officials and policy makers from ministries and agencies, development partners, UNDP, UNIDO, UNCDF, the private sector, NGOs, researchers and professionals, and cooking energy traders.
Recently, the Assistant Commissioner for Electricity Development at the Ministry of Energy, Eng Styden Rwebangila, while outlining some of the achievements recorded in the energy sector within the 60 years of independence, observed that the energy policy indicates the employment of generation mix to be safe and for all the citizens to enjoy reliable and affordable access to electricity.
“We are also in the process of obtaining independent developers for the uptake of 145-megawatt project, which will contribute to a generation mix of wind, solar and geothermal generation among others,” said Eng Rwebangila.
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