2023-07-27 08:25:50
Initiated since 2017 with a view to increasing access to electricity for unserved populations in rural and peri-urban areas, the off-grid electrification project (EHR) is at the time of taking stock. On Wednesday, July 26, 2023, the Millennium Challenge Account Benin II (MCA-Benin II) started a workshop with the various stakeholders to capitalize on the experience of off-grid electrification (EHR) in Benin.
S.T.
With 185,000 beneficiaries impacted, the sustainability of the Access to Off-Grid Electrification (EHR) project, the fourth component of the MCA-Benin II Program, occupies donors, state companies and Clean Energy Facility structures. off-grid, in English Off-grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF). To do this, the Millennium Challenge Account Benin II opened, on Wednesday June 26, a workshop to capitalize on the experience of off-grid electrification (EHR) in Benin. Bringing together the various stakeholders, namely the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ARE), the Ministry of Energy, the concessionaire operators of mini-grids, and other actors, this meeting, which takes place after approximately 05 years of implementation of the project, is intended as a framework for sharing lessons learned from the experimentation of the regulatory framework for off-grid electrification put in place by the government of Benin. Better, will specify the National Coordinator of MCA-Benin II, Gabriel Dègbégni, “it is a melting pot of exchanges of experiences, good practices and lessons learned in order to reinforce the effectiveness and the impact of the actions undertaken in a perspective of sustainability of achievements”. This, in a context where, since 2017, MCA-Benin II has set up the Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF) for a current amount of US$18.9 million to co-finance 12 energy projects. solar. Most communes in Benin, particularly rural localities selected in accordance with the master plan, have received electricity through the schemes and projects of OCEF promoters.
Notable progress
In terms of results, the off-grid electrification project (EHR), according to Gabriel Dègbégni, will have enabled the ongoing construction of 55 mini-grids, 8 of which are already in operation for a total installed power of 334.4 kWp ; the distribution of 42,113 solar kits for a total installed power of 334.4 kWp; the construction of 44 community standpipes, and 33 private boreholes which are all powered by photovoltaic solar systems, and many other achievements. Thanks to these results, “more than 185,000 beneficiaries now have access to electricity in their homes, many of them for the first time. This has also generated nearly 2,500 jobs for young people, girls and boys. Progress made possible by the strength of the collaboration between the stakeholders that are the Ministry of Energy, ABERME and ARE, as well as the private sector. Present at the opening of the works, the President of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (ARE), Gbêdonougbo Claude Gbaguidi, did not fail to recognize the merits of the project which, for his part, places Benin in the lead. French-speaking African countries with a dynamic off-grid electricity access scheme. “But, he will say, we must not be satisfied with this success. The off-grid electrification of isolated localities is a difficult task that we must be able to make sustainable”. It is then that he will invite the participants to identify the obstacles, the shortcomings of the project, followed by concrete proposals so that the process can be perpetuated and multiplied in Africa for those who expect Benin to provide assistance in this direction.
As a reminder…
The Off-Grid Clean Energy Facility (OCEF) is an activity of MCA-Benin II aimed at bringing electricity to isolated areas of Benin, not connected to the conventional grid. Designed for five years (2017-2022), including a one-year extension to take into account the COVID-19 pandemic, it consists of a shared-cost fund that supports promoters of off-grid electrification projects and energetic efficiency.
It should be noted that the implementation of this project follows the adoption by the Beninese government in 2018 of the basic documents of the EHR, namely the National Policy and Strategy as well as the Master Plan and the Regulatory Framework. off-grid electrification. The Beninese State then issued Decree 2018-415 of November 12, 2018 regulating off-grid electrification in the Republic of Benin. The adoption of this framework was a first at the national level. The main objective is to establish an attractive and conducive environment for the private sector to provide quality electricity services to populations that could not have been served by the conventional electricity network of SBEE for many years.
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juillet 27, 2023
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