In 3 years, nearly 25,000 people have benefited from this rural electrification project. The project was carried out by the company Welight Madagascar, which relied heavily on solar energy.
In Madagascar, electricity is still a luxury for many households, especially in rural areas where the standard of living is low. On this Indian Ocean Island, Welight has been committed to electrifying villages for the past three years and to date, 35 Malagasy localities have benefited from small solar power plants supplying 25,000 households. The services offered by Welight also allow villages to benefit from public lighting, as well as the electrification of public services such as health centers, town halls, schools and police stations.
Working with Madagascar’s Axian Group, mini-grid provider Sagemcom, and investor Norfund, Welight aims to accelerate energy inclusion in this East African country to provide reliable and productive energy to people in remote rural areas. Access to electricity will promote job creation, sustainable development and, in turn, a significant improvement in people’s living conditions. According to Romain de Villeneuve, Welight’s Managing Director, the 35 mini solar power plants deployed are accompanied by a battery storage system and mini-networks to serve the local populations. In each connected household, a smart meter allows the user to prepay his energy directly through mobile money solutions.
Renewable energies to increase the rate of access to electricity
Madagascar has an installed capacity of 417 MW, 73% of which is oil-based electricity. The Malagasy Ministry of Energy has been working on strategies to progressively build at least 1,100 kilometers of lines in order to reach a 50% electrification rate in the country. According to World Bank data, the current rate is around 26.9% for nearly 27 million inhabitants. These figures are low and place the island behind some countries in the sub-region, including Kenya, which has a rate of 69.7%, just ahead of Ethiopia, whose rate of access to electricity for the population was around 49% in 2019. However, the service company Jirama has accumulated debts estimated at 400 million euros and coupled with losses of nearly 75 million euros.
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On the other hand, an international consortium has announced the construction and operation by 2023 of a 120 MW dam and hydroelectric plant on the Ivondro River 40 km west of Toamasina.
Benoit-Ivan Wansi
