New renewable energy technology training centre to open in Tanzania

The government of the Republic of Korea has unveiled plans to open a training centre for renewable energy technology in Arusha, Tanzania, in a bid to increase energy access in the East African country’s rural areas.

Dr Herb Rhee, Director of the Innovative Technology and Energy Centre (ITEC), stated that the centre will open in August, this year, and will have the capacity to train 1,000 students each year, according to local media reports.

In addition to the training centre, Dr Rhee said they are also planning to develop power transmission grids in rural areas for the distribution of solar energy.

He said: "The centre, aimed at energy development, will be situated at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Science and Technology in Arusha. Also, we have opened two centres but at small-scale at Karatu and Dodoma.”

Reportedly, the ITEC has already trained 300 secondary school students and 200 teachers in Arusha in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), in order to increase renewable energy expertise in the region.

Ji-Young Rhee, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of E3 Empower, said that their technology will be used to improve a number of sectors in rural areas, including health, education and entrepreneurship.

She said: "Through our project, we will be able to supply electricity to rural areas."

According to the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Rural Energy Agency (REA) Energy Access Situation Report, 2016 Tanzania Mainland, solar power in rural areas is leading by almost 65 per cent compared to 34.5 per cent of grid-connected power.

The report said: "One general observation from this data is that more efforts are needed to improve the accessibility of modern energies to rural residents in order to achieve sets of energy targets by 2030 as stipulated in 2015 Energy Policy."

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