The project “Capacity Building for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency” funded by the EU, provides Technical Assistance (TA) to the Zambian Rural Electrification Authority (REA) for the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency demonstration projects in rural Zambia. The project started in 2017 and it is estimated to finish in 2021 with a budget of EUR 5 million. The specific objective of this TA task is to support the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency actions, and to provide capacity building to sector stakeholders in order to enable them to develop sustainable energy projects in the future. This project is part of the overall programme “Support to the Zambia Energy Sector: Increased Access to Electricity and Renewable Energy production”, which aims to increase Zambia’s citizens access to clean, reliable and affordable energy and promote renewable energy production and energy efficiency, especially in rural areas.
How we are doing it
NTU is working to ensure capacity building and technical know-how transfer, through on-the-job and formal training. In this project, our focus is on the mini-grids, since one of the goals is to elaborate guidelines for mini-grids' operations in the future. Our team of experts is working on the detailed design of future projects related to mini-grids. This approach is helping to establish a system of continuous development for solar energy based on solar photovoltaic technology in rural areas in Zambia. This approach is expected to provide electricity for at least 10 000 people in isolated communities of Zambia.
Impact:
NTU’s TA support provides a strong basis to allow for demonstrating the viability of various Renewable Energy schemes and construction of resilient infrastructure in the Zambian energy sector. These results will consequently allow for inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and the ability to address energy poverty in rural areas.
Mini-hydro field trip