Mobilizing Social Assets for Productive Use of Renewable Energy in Rural Tanzania
University of Michigan
- Program Environment
- Program Area Advancing Climate Change Solutions
- Grant Amount $400,061
- Grant Period September 1, 2020–August 31, 2023
- Location Ann Arbor, MI, United States
- Geographic Focus Tanzania
About this grant
Over the last decade, an important ingredient for the success of off-grid renewable energy development in Africa has been elusive. Energy entrepreneurs have not been able to adequately assess the ability of off-grid, rural communities to receive, make good use of and pay for new energy services. Better market and social assessment tools are needed to address this barrier. Over the past grant period, University of Michigan researchers have helped prove that rural communities can successfully manage and benefit from well-planned off-grid energy projects. The grantee has worked with a local university to provide data on the capacity of last-mile rural communities to support off-grid energy services. The University of Michigan will work collaboratively with Saint John’s University, based in Dodoma, Tanzania, as well as other partners to catalyze off-grid energy projects that improve rural livelihoods through productive use of renewable energy.