| Overview : Access to electricity in Tanzania stands at around 36%. However, about one third of the electricity sector relies on hydropower generation, which is becoming increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. This leads to significant strains on power generation in meeting the ever-increasing demand currently standing at 10% annually. To partly meet the demand, diesel generators are being relied on for commercial and residential power generation. This in turn leads to increased carbon emissions and higher costs for the end user, which ultimately hampers the national development. The current use of natural gas somewhat reduces reliance on hydropower and diesel. Currently, there are several CBOs and private sector initiatives, projects and programs that are being carried out in Tanzania’s energy sector. However, the initiatives are oftentimes executed without or with very limited co-ordination. This leads to the duplication of efforts, ineffective use of available resources and deviation from the achievement of national targets. Under the leadership of the Ministry of Energy (MoE), with close cooperation from UNDP and other development partners, Tanzania’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) five-year full-fledged project seeks to integrate the multi-tier efforts of the country towards providing universal access to energy, doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency and doubling the share of renewable energy in the energy mix . Through a collaborative multi-stakeholder approach, the SE4ALL strategy aims to, among other things, enhance coordination among stakeholders to oversee, collaborate and complement each other among the multiple government policies, initiatives, projects and programs that are currently being carried out in the Tanzania’s energy sector. The achievement of the SE4ALL initiative will largely depend on the Ministry’s ability to provide an enabling environment including provision of all required information on the sustainable energy sector. Currently there is no publicly accessible central information repository on the sustainable energy. This kind of repository would be an efficient tool to provide a consolidated and sufficient information for stakeholders interested in sustainable energy in Tanzania. Information on project developments, renewable energy resources, investment opportunities, local key stakeholders, required contracts and procedures (incl. Power Purchase Agreement) and information about Public Private Partnerships (PPP) will be included in the repository and be freely accessible by the public. Through the Ministry of Energy and UNDP project entitled “Capacity Development in the Energy Sector and Extractive Industries”[1], the Ministry initiated the process of developing the Tanzania Renewable Energy Information Management System (TREIMS) whereby a number of steps has been achieved including setting up a framework for data collection and draft design of the TREIMS portal. Through the current SE4ALL project, the Ministry through UNDP is seeking proposals from interested company to finalize the TREIMS as a centralized information system for the renewable energy resources and related sustainable energy in Tanzania. This information system will be an internet based portal, which is accessible to the public and the MoE, noting that each of these parties have separate access needs. As the focal point for the energy sector, energy policy development and overseeing the energy sector operations, MoE is aware that there is an urgent need for the establishment of a centralized information system that will allow for the storage and safe-keeping of the MoE’s data, information and project information for renewable energy, as well as to serve the public in accessing relevant information regarding renewable energy. TREIMS is expected to capture, store and make easily accessible the data and information from the various sections and programs existing within the MoE with relevance for renewable energy. |
