Tanzania needs to exploit solar energy potential, Unido says

Dar es Salaam. Solar energy is one of the potential energy resources in Tanzania. However, the government is yet to exploit the resource, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) has said.

Addressing reporters during a press conference on Thursday, Unido national programme officer Gerald Runyoro said the government had invested more in other energy resources such as hydropower resources (12 per cent exploited) and natural gas and not very much in solar energy.

"Rural areas have more readily adopted solar PV technology due to the absence of grid electricity. The government’s sustainable development goal to connect all people by 2030 can be backed up by massive investment in solar power," he stressed.

To address a shortage of solar experts, the organisation, in collaboration with Tanzania Renewable Energy Association (Tarea) and the Commission for Science and Technology (Costech), on November 5-10, this year organised a pilot-training workshop at Morogoro Vocational Teachers Training College (MVTTC).

The workshop brought together 29 trainees, including PV installers, retailers and technicians, who came from Dar es Salaam, Morogoro and Arusha, among other regions.

The results of the programme are essential to developing recommendations for an accreditation programme for Veta’s consideration and training programme for PV technicians, retailers and regional energy officers to enable them to address challenges facing the energy sector.

For her part, Tarea deputy executive secretary Emma Laswai said the existence of counterfeit solar products in the market was a big challenge facing solar energy in the country.

“According to a 2015 study, most of the retail shops surveyed contain substandard products, which do not perform according to specifications written on their data plates,” she noted.