Rift Valley Energy powers economic development with rural electricity network in Tanzania

This case study describes the development of rural electricity networks in Tanzania by Rift Valley Energy, starting with a 4-megawatt hydro-power station in the Mufindi district. The company utilizes an 'ABC model' to serve anchor customers, businesses, and communities, expanding its infrastructure to include a 2.4-megawatt wind farm to ensure reliability during dry seasons.

• Rift Valley Energy established a 4-megawatt hydro-power station in the Mufindi district to address electricity supply intermittency from the national grid. The project, commissioned in 2012, includes a rural distribution network of over 450 kilometres of power lines serving 32 villages with 4,700 connections, including households, SMEs, village institutions, three hospitals, 20 health stations, and 35 schools.
• The company employs an 'ABC model' for project conception, prioritizing anchor customers (such as the national utility TANESCO), followed by other businesses or industrial operations, and finally communities. This approach helped secure financing from the Rural Energy Agency and the European Union for the Mwenga Hydro and Rural Electrification Project.
• In June 2020, Rift Valley Energy launched a 2.4-megawatt wind farm near Usokami Village in the Mwenga/Kihansi area. This is the first wind project in Tanzania and the first rural network in the country powered by both hydro and wind. The wind farm is designed to maintain supply during the dry season when hydro capacity is low.
• Rift Valley Energy feeds excess electricity into the national grid via a Standardized Power Purchasing Agreement (SPPA) of approximately 18 gigawatt hours per year. The company plans to connect an additional 1,500 customers to the Mwenga hydro-wind network over the next two years, targeting businesses such as welding workshops, carpentry, and maize milling centres.
• Beyond the Mufindi district, Rift Valley Energy has expanded its operations by building another hydro-based network in the Njombe region and is currently constructing one in the Rungwe district.

APA

Sustainable Energy for All (2020). Rift Valley Energy powers economic development with rural electricity network in Tanzania. https://www.seforall.org/stories-of-success/rift-valley-energy-tanzania

Chicago

Sustainable Energy for All. Rift Valley Energy powers economic development with rural electricity network in Tanzania. 2020. https://www.seforall.org/stories-of-success/rift-valley-energy-tanzania.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Sustainable Energy for All |title=Rift Valley Energy powers economic development with rural electricity network in Tanzania |date=29 September 2020 |url=https://www.seforall.org/stories-of-success/rift-valley-energy-tanzania |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{sustainableenergyforall2020rift, author = {{Sustainable Energy for All}}, title = {{Rift Valley Energy powers economic development with rural electricity network in Tanzania}}, institution = {Sustainable Energy for All}, year = {2020}, month = sep, url = {https://www.seforall.org/stories-of-success/rift-valley-energy-tanzania}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }