Small hydro power is one of the most viable options to providing electricity to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa with the force of water. Tanzania has all the geographic conditions for scaling-up small hydro power projects to the national level. The example of a non-profit/for-profit partnership between CEFA, an Italian NGO addressing rural electrification, and a private partner to realize a small hydro power project in Ninga, Tanzania, is a great starting point to expand rural energy access and meet national targets for electrification and energy production (cc) REVOLVE MAGAZINE

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Hydro Power
in Rural Africa
Writer: Jacopo Pendezza is a Rural Electrification Project Manager at CEFA in Tanzania. He has a BA in International
Development and Cooperation from Università di Bologna (Italy) and a MA in European Studies from Université
Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium). Jacopo specializes in project management, energy policy, rural development and non-
profit/for-profit partnerships.
Photographer: Giacomo Spigarelli
Small hydro power is one of the most viable
options to providing electricity to rural communities
in sub-Saharan Africa with the force of water.
Tanzania has all the geographic conditions for
scaling-up small hydro power projects to the national
level. The example of a non-profit/for-profit partnership
between CEFA, an Italian NGO addressing rural
electrification, and a private partner to realize a small
hydro power project in Ninga, Tanzania, is a great starting
point to expand rural energy access and meet national
targets for electrification and energy production.
Renewable energy technologies have great
potential to contribute to rural energy sup-
ply in sub-Saharan Africa. While the energy
transition potential is tremendous across
Africa,in most cases government investments
and donors’ budgets have unfortunately not
been financing sustainable small hydro power
plants that could provide energy access in
a decentralized manner to rural populations.
However, energy production and distribution
in Tanzania is now a national priority and a
promising business opportunity, because
policy and legal frameworks provide a good
environment for investments and subsidies.
Still, there is a great need for mobilizing
financial resources to expand energy access
for rural communities. Non-profit/for-profit
partnerships (NPFPP) can occupy a fruitful
“middle ground”between commercial private
sector projects,focused primarily on profit and
public/non-profit sector projects focused on
enhancing energy access.

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In sub-Saharan Africa, biomass energy
continues to dominate national energy
portfolios with around 625 million people
being dependent on wood and charcoal
for cooking and heating. Yet 585 million
people live without access to electricity:
sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the
lowest energy access in the world. Elec-
trification rates are particularly low in rural
areas (with the exception of South Africa); in
most countries, less than 10% of the popu-
lation is not connected. Sub-Saharan Africa
electrification is prevented by the high
cost of grid expansion and by the limited
production capacity and dependence on
imported fossil fuels. In sub-Saharan Africa,
biomass energy continues to dominate
national energy portfolios with around 625
million people being dependent on wood
and charcoal for cooking and heating. Yet
585 million people live without access to
electricity: sub-Saharan Africa is the region
with the lowest energy access in the world.
Electrification rates are particularly low in
rural areas (with the exception of South
Africa); in most countries, less than 10%
of the population is not connected. Sub-
Saharan Africa electrification is prevented
by the high cost of grid expansion and
by the limited production capacity and
dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Small hydro power, along with photovoltaic
panels, are the most viable and feasible
options for water and solar power to provide
electricity for lighting and communication as
well as to provide sufficient power capacity
to deliver the mini-grid the basis for various
forms of productive uses of electricity includ-
ing small industrial applications. Typical
capacity ranges from a few kilowatts (kW)
for micro-hydro to a few megawatts (MW)
for small-hydro, depending on various fac-
tors such as hydrology, load demand, and
geographical constraints. Small hydro power
offers a chance to tackle the three major
challenges for developing the African energy
sector by helping to increase rural electrifi-
cation rates, installing additional capacity for
national and local grids (independent from
imported fuels), and promoting productive
use of energy in poor areas.
Twelve percent of the world’s hydroelectric
potential is in Africa – and due to geo-
graphical conditions most of this potential
is located in the sub-Saharan region – but
Africa’s Great Untapped Potential

4. 71
and a number of religious mission facilities
and mechanical mills. In most African coun-
tries, existing small hydro plants are funded
by NGOs and international donors; most are
not well documented and remain isolated
projects that have not been scaled-up.
In the last decade, however, some countries
have made progress in promoting small
hydro more systematically, moving away
from demonstration and pilot programs
to large-scale initiatives. In countries like
Rwanda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa
and Tanzania, decentralized renewable
technologies such as small hydro power
have been mainstreamed in regional and
national policy documents. In Rwanda,
small hydro contributes a significant por-
tion to installed capacity and even micro
hydro is beginning to make a significant
contribution. Key to the Rwandan success
has been a sector-wide approach by vari-
ous donors, led by a strong Ministry for
Infrastructure who sets clear targets and
provides a policy framework and budgets
for the electrification of the country. While
governments and donors in some coun-
tries bundle their efforts together to push
for greater electrification, private project
developers are also taking an increas-
ing interest in decentralized renewable
technologies. The pioneers are leading to
larger, more sophisticated companies with
in no other continent is the gap between
actual and technically available hydro power
higher than in Africa where only 5% of this
potential is currently exploited. Looking at
the small and micro hydro systems, the gap
is probably even higher. While China has
developed over 45,000 plants of 10 MW, in
Africa there are no more than a few hundred
small hydro plants in operation.
Small and micro hydro plants have a long
history in Africa, but have not proliferated
on a massive scale, despite the favorable
regional geographic conditions. Early elec-
trification projects comparable to European
developments include, for example, the first
hydroelectric plant built in 1895 in Cape
Town, South Africa. Such hydroelectric sys-
tems operate on large farms and industries,
strong links to international players. The
European Small Hydro Association (ESHA)
considers Uganda and Kenya as countries
with promising short-term small hydro
power markets, while countries such as
Mozambique, Zambia and Rwanda offer
good medium-term perspectives.
Due to a lack of reliable and comparable
information, it is difficult to elaborate a base-
line for small hydro development in Africa.
This is true for mini and micro hydro sites,
which are documented only in a few well-
known cases. In many countries, most of
the existing plants still date back to colonial
times; many of which were established by
church missions. In Tanzania, for example,
more than 16 small systems were installed
by church missions in the 1960s and 1970s.
In Kenya, small hydro plants from the 1950s
are still operating. In South Africa, there
are hundreds of de-commissioned plants,
waiting for rehabilitation, while only a few
new plants have been constructed in the last
years. Many of the old sites mentioned in
historic reports are forgotten and cannot be
located today. Figures about recent projects
are easier to obtain because government
action plans and information of ongoing
donor funded projects allow for more accu-
rate estimations.Tanzania has good natural
resources and the political willingness to tap
into its small hydro power potential.
Sub-Saharan Africa is the
region with the lowest energy
access in the world
Electricity access in 2010 - Regional aggregates
Source: IEA, World Energy Outlook 2012

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Hydro power is the most popular and the
oldest renewable energy sources used to
produce electricity for rural grids. Abundant
and old experiences exist in several develop-
ing countries such asTanzania.The assessed
potential of small hydro power resources of 10
MW in Tanzania comes out to be about 480
MW. Small hydro projects contribute only 15
MW to installed grid-connections, and most
of these projects are privately-owned and are
not connected to the national electricity grid.
Five sites in the 300–8,000 kW range are
owned by Tanzania Electric Supply Company
(TANESCO), the national distribution utility.
Examples of privately-developed projects
include Mwenga, a 4 MW hydro plant that
supplies power to nearby rural villages, with
excess energy sold to TANESCO; AHEPO, a
1 MW privately-owned small hydro project
in Mbinga, currently under construction, that
will supply power toTANESCO’s isolated grid
and directly to communities.
Different instruments and projects are set
up by the government and donors to support
small hydro power expansion. The Ministry
of Energy and Minerals (MEM) is now con-
ducting feasibility studies in eight regions:
Morogoro, Iringa, Njombe, Mbeya, Ruvuma,
Rukwa, Katavi, and Kagera.The British NGO,
GVEP International, in partnership with the
Tanzanian Rural Energy Agency (REA), is
supporting the development of six hydro
mini-grids, with a total capacity of 7.4-8.8
MW.The REA has awarded some 20 match-
Tanzania’s Water Power
Non-profit/for-profit partnerships are one of
the best mechanisms to overcome budgetary
constraints for providing energy access
ing grants to private sector developers for
small hydro feasibility studies. In addition,
the Energy Sector Management Assistance
Program (ESMAP) has approved funding for
renewable energy resource mapping,starting
with small hydro power, including two-year
hydrology measurements.The United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
is co-funding the development of six mini-
grids based on micro hydro power, while the
European Union is financing four hydro power
projects, including one developed by CEFA.

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Rural Electrification in Tanzania
The European Committee for Training and
Agriculture (CEFA) is an Italian NGO that
promotes initiatives of development, coop-
eration and international volunteer services.
Founded in 1972 by a group of agricultural
cooperatives based in Bologna,CEFA supports
projects aiming to promote integrated self-
development in rural regions of the Mediterra-
nean,EastAfrica and Central/SouthAmerica.
Active inTanzania since 1976,CEFA promotes
interventions in rural electrification, water
supply, agriculture and agro-processing.
CEFA’s commitment to rural electrification
in Tanzania began 25 years ago and in this
period the organization has realized three
mini hydro-electric power plants, providing
electricity to hundreds of people living in the
rural areas of the Iringa and Njombe Regions,
in the Southern Highlands.
Careful planning procedures for technical
capacity, good institutional arrangements,
managerial capacity and economic consider-
ations, as well as multi-stakeholder involve-
ment from the planning phase onwards,have
resulted in the sustainable operation of the
three hydro power plants. Such commit-
ments in the sector continue today with a
current upgrade project in Ikondo, a very
isolated village in the Southern Highlands of
Tanzania, allowing more and more families
to benefit from the opportunities offered by
having electricity in their villages.This project,
co-funded by European Union under the 10th
European Development Fund (EDF),started in
September 2011 and by 2015 will permit an
upgrade in output of the power plant to some
430 kW,and to increase the actual distribution
grid reaching four other villages, connecting
to the Matembwe grid and to the TANESCO
grid in order to sell the excess produced
energy to the national utility.
CEFA is aware that only with a qualitative jump
can impacts be incisive for a large population
that needs energy access, and has therefore
decided to take advantage of the opportuni-
ties and instruments that are now in place
in Tanzania to design a new project, the size
of which significantly differs from previous
ones. The site for the next intervention is in
the Rufiji River Basin in the Njombe Region.
The Ninga small hydro project,with an output
of 5 MW, will provide reliable and affordable
electricity to about 2,000 households and
small enterprises in seven villages, and will
sell the surplus energy to the main national
grid, increasing the regional availability of
power and assuring the financial sustainability
of the system. How is such a productive and
replicable solution to secure funding for this
sustainable project?

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This article was presented at the POWER-GEN AFRICA conferencePOWER-GEN AFRICA
and exhibition “Equipping Africa’s Energy Future” in Cape Town
on 17-19 March 2014.
The next POWER-GEN AFRICA “Emerging Opportunities in the World’s
Fastest Growing Continent” will take place in Cape Town on 15-17 July 2015.
For more details, visit: www.powergenafrica.com
To learn more about CEFA projects, visit: www.cefaonlus.it/uk
Government investments and donors’ budgets
have been overall insufficient to expand access
to electricity in rural areas in a sustainable
manner. Mobilizing financial resources to
expand local energy services delivery in Tan-
zania is therefore an imperative.In a scenario
of diminishing funds for development programs
with simultaneous increasing demands from
donors in terms of the impact of actions sup-
ported, a new approach is necessary regard-
ing the action of non-profit actors, like CEFA,
in developing countries. Non-profit/for-profit
partnerships (NPFPP) are one of the best
mechanisms to supplement and overcome
budgetary constraints for widening access to
energy services,as they can allocate project-
risksbetweenthepublic/non-profitandprivate/
business sectors.A partnership between non-
profit and for-profit actors is a good solution
to rapidly mobilize financial resources,expand
energy access,enhance the empowerment of
local communities, and meet national targets
for electrification and energy production.
Profit motivations are blended with social
concerns and empowerment of communi-
ties.The NPFPP model operates on the twin
foundations of sharing risks and rewards:
risk-sharing is reflected by the resources
invested by the private actor and non-profit
actor in the partnership. Providing rewards
is usually in proportion to the risk taken.
Additionally, rewards are reflected in the
availability of tangible incentives for the dif-
ferent players in NPFPP: to fulfill corporate
social responsibility and cost recovery/profit
for the private actor; achieving its mandate
to deliver basic services to local communi-
ties for the non-profit actor; and availability
and access to basic services for the target
communities.This incentive system is the key
to the sustainability of any NPFPP venture.
CEFA’s experience suggests that including
multiple stakeholders in program design,
implementation, and evaluation can enhance
the development of renewable energies.
Involving women’s groups, multilateral
donors, rural cooperatives, local govern-
ment, local micro-finance institutions, NGOs
and other members of civil society, like
consumers, can increase both the per-
formance and legitimacy of partnerships.
They improve performance since input
from multiple stakeholders can accelerate
feedback; they improve legitimacy since
programs with a broader support base and
community involvement are less likely to be
opposed.Above all, the partnership benefits
from the larger pool of resources coming
from the public and private sectors, and the
resources (social, human, financial, political
and psychological capital) of the communi-
ties also improve in return.
A Bigger NPFPP Model