Containerised Solar PV power arrives in Shitunguru

In February, a shipping container arrived in the village of Shitunguru, in the Mbeya region of Tanzania. A month previously, a similar container arrived in neighbouring Isenzanya. These containers hold everything required to bring clean, safe power to households and businesses across rural Tanzania.

Today the communities of Isenzanya and Shitunguru rely on wood, charcoal, diesel and kerosene. Fuels that can be scarce, expensive and dangerous to health especially when consumed within the confines of a family home. Redavia Tanzania Asset Limited (‘Redavia’) will displace these fuels with clean, sustainable solar power.

“A socially and environmentally impactful initiative”  

Tamsun Mwasenga, Village Chairman, Shitunguru

Redavia has developed an innovative solution: shipping containers that provide the solar PV panels, fittings and control systems required for up to 100KWp of installed Solar PV capacity. These containers can be installed on-site in just six days and deployed individually or as a multiple array. Containers are configured for low voltage power so they can connect directly to existing networks and either hybridise with or displace diesel generators. Redavia will be supplying containers through a pioneering business model: one that avoids both high up-front capital costs for the end user and the lengthy development and construction periods typically associated with static PV plants. InfraCo Africa has provided Redavia with the capital required to purchase and supply the containers. In turn, Redavia will provide the technology and expertise needed to further develop, deploy and maintain these packaged PV solutions. A local business will rent the containers from Redavia and retail the generated solar power through a mini-grid system, providing electricity to end-users. By working together, these businesses are able to rapidly provide the power required to improve living standards and business productivity within Isenzanya and Shitunguru, and so fuel economic growth within Tanzania.

If these two containers are successfully deployed, then InfraCo Africa will fund up to a further 30 containers. This will enable Redavia to achieve commercial scale, as well as providing a replicable model that could be deployed across sub-Saharan Africa.