The new renewable energy training centre, which Tanzania will host in the coming years, is intended to be a hub for East Africa. The World Bank supports this ambition by providing financial backing for the opening of the centre, which will be located in the Hai District in the Kilimanjaro region. It will be called East Africa’s centre of excellence in renewable energy and will be rooted on the ashes of the Kikuletwa training centre, which depends on the Arusha Technical College (ATC). ATC is currently providing training in the following areas: principles of operation and maintenance of hydropower plants, principles of design and maintenance of electricity transmission and distribution, programmable logic controllers (PLC) for hydropower engineers, and design, installation, service and maintenance of solar photovoltaic systems.
This project also benefits from the support of Norway, which injected €8.3 billion in July 2014. For five years, this support has made it possible to set up training in hydroelectric power in the Kikuletwa training centre, says the rector.
The Tanzanian authorities are planning to expand the centre in order to increase the number of students it will be able to accommodate each year to 1,500. This strategy will enable Tanzania to train its technicians on site. They used to have to go to Zambia or other countries for training, especially in hydroelectricity.
The renewable energy training centre is part of the Eastern Africa skills for transformation and regional integration project (Eastrip). This programme, which is being implemented in the United Republic of Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia, aims to develop specialised technical skills in priority sectors, including transport, energy, agricultural processing, manufacturing and information and communications technology. Tanzania also plans to open 42 technical training centres in other areas throughout the country.
Luchelle Feukeng