Rural electrification in Togo (ProEnergie II)
Project description
Title: Rural electrification in Togo (ProEnergie II)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Togo
Lead executing agency: Ministry of Planning and Cooperation (Ministère du Plan et de la Coopération), Ministry of Energy and Mines (Ministère délégué auprès du président de la République chargé de l'Énergie et des Mines)
Overall term: 2020 to 2023
Context
Only eight per cent of the rural population in Togo have access to electricity. The power supply is characterised by inadequate or missing infrastructure, high connection costs, under-supply and poor supply quality. Most of the available power is simply used for lighting and for recharging mobile phones. Only rarely is power used for productive processes such as irrigation, welding and drilling. This undermines efforts to create economic value and build social infrastructure in rural areas.
In its national electrification strategy, the Togolese Government sets the goal of ensuring universal access to electricity by 2030. However, progress towards this goal is hampered by a general lack of infrastructure and capacity constraints on national institutions.
Objective
Climate-friendly rural electrification in Togo has been implemented with a focus on economic and social factors.
Approach
The project builds on the impacts achieved in the predecessor module, which focused on decentralised energy provision (2017 to 2020).
The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is working on the project on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). To this end, it is advising the Togolese Agency for Rural Electrification and Renewable Energies (Agence Togolaise d’Electrification Rurale et des Energies Renouvelables, AT2ER) and the Directorate General of Energy (Direction Générale de l’Energie, DGE). It is also working on their ongoing organisational development. GIZ is thus laying essential foundations for implementing the national electrification strategy. To achieve this, the project is strengthening the planning systems of the two implementation partners and providing individual training and support for employees.
GIZ is also advising AT2ER on the implementation of a climate-friendly village power system based on mini-grids. Households in rural regions are either connected to a mini-grid or provided with electricity through individual ‘solar home’ systems, depending on which of these solutions is more cost-effective.
In an energy self-sufficient village initiative, GIZ is testing mini-grids – developed, constructed and operated by the private sector – in selected villages. Funding is provided through a results-based financing mechanism (RBF), with payments being made once predefined goals have been achieved. Those involved are thus contributing to sustainable economic development.
In addition, the project aims to maximise the economic, productive and social benefits of the power supply. It can be used, for example, to generate and process agricultural products and operate basic social infrastructure such as health centres and schools.
Thanks to participatory planning and explicit support for disadvantaged groups, access to electricity is particularly benefiting women and young people.
Last update: November 2020
