AORA Solar, a provider of solar-biogas hybrid power technology, has been selected by Ethopian government to construct a solar-hybrid pilot power plant as part of the country’s Climate-Resilient Green Economy Strategy Plan.
The pilot follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two parties in March.
Construction of the first pilot plant is expected to begin by mid-2015.
Ethopian rural communities and villages have been facing deep energy crisis. The government has realized that these communities need more than part-time solar power for lights; they need holistic sustainable development.
In an effort to boost sustainable development in the region, the Ethopian government launched the Climate Resilient Green Economy Strategy in November 2011, which aims to achieve the development objective of being a middle income nation by 2025.
The Strategy’s four pillars include the generation of energy from renewable sources for domestic and regional markets.
The goal of the project is to provide adequate uninterruptible and grid independent power to support the achievement of middle-income status by 2025 while developing a green economy.
“We are transforming our Green Economy Strategy into action and are pleased to partner with AORA to help achieve our vision,” said Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy for Ethiopia. “AORA’s unique solar-hybrid technology is impressive and well-suited to provide both energy and heat to support local economic development in off-grid rural locations in Ethiopia.”
Following the trial, the Ministry intends to expand deployment of AORA installations for rural economic development to off-grid communities in selected areas of the country.
The AORA Tulip technology requires less land per kWh to generate usable power and heat than other systems. Each Tulip station is small and modular, producing 100kW of electricity in addition to 170kW of heat, while occupying less than 3,500 square meters (0.86 acres), the company said.
The advantage of this technology is that it runs not only on solar but also on almost any gaseous or liquid fuel, including biogas, biodiesel and natural gas, thus it is able to guarantee an uninterrupted and stable power supply 24 hours a day in all weather conditions.
Rajani Baburajan