Afrique subsaharienne , Equatorial Guinea , Togo , Central African Republic , Bénin , Democratic Republic of Congo , Congo , Cameroon , Mali , Rwanda

First regional capacity building project in mini and micro-hydroelectricity

EXPERTISE : /Facilitation of project implementation /Design, Financing Mechanisms and Fund Management
SECTOR : , Public

client

PNUD/UNDP Mali

 

project description

UNDP, the Global Environment Facility, the African Bank of Development and the governments of ten countries (Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mali, Rwanda, Togo) joined together to organize the first regional electrical project of energy production development in rural areas based on mini or micro-hydroelectric plants. This project provided to targeted rural communities a base level of self-financing decentralized services of electricity production with the support of the GEF. This project allowed them to develop their economy, and was also an incentive to private investments, economical growth and fight against urban drift.

highlights

UNDP gave Econoler International the mandate to assemble as much data as it could and use the data already available on chosen sites to carry out a technical and financial pre-feasibility study on the basis of site visits and the RETScreen software.

The specific objectives of the project were as follows:

  • Introducing in each country innovative technologies of mini or micro-hydroelectric plants and testing the most suitable models.
  • Assessing the impact of the project on the environment in order to minimize it and respect the local ecological conditions.
  • Identifying and testing the barriers and constraints for the promotion of this technology for areas with a certain economic potential.
  • Conceiving specific regional strategies to remove these constraints.
  • Using this project to promote the reforms of the electric sector of the participating countries.
  • Developing in these countries technical, operational, legal and institutional capacities for the design and implementation of these mini or micro-hydroelectric plants.
  • Evaluating the financial profit of these investments in order to establish a favorable framework on a large scale operation that would satisfy the needs of the local populations and possibly their interconnection with the local area networks.
  • Developing the interest of the regional economic actors and banks for the financing of similar projects.
Return to search