Sustainable rural electrification: small hydropower stations, electrification and rural welfare improvement in Tanzania
Abstract
Purpose
Tanzania is rich in small hydropower (SHP) potentials. However, many of these potentials have yet to be fully used, and more than two-thirds of its rural population lacks access to electricity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of SHP stations in improving rural welfare in the southern highlands of Tanzania. It further explores the history, cost-effective analysis and threats to the sustainability of SHP as one of the renewable energy sources.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a qualitative research design to explore respondents’ views on the role of SHP stations in facilitating rural electrification and welfare improvement. Primary data were gathered using semi-structured interviews with the 27 key informants and beneficiaries of SHP stations from the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. In addition, the study used documentary research to complement the information from the field survey.
Findings
The findings found that SHP stations enhance rural electrification and welfare by providing electricity in remote areas with sparse populations. They operate as standalone off-grids, often by church communities and individuals. However, the sustainability of SHP stations is hampered by challenges such as climate change impacts, high capital investment costs, heavy siltation of small reservoirs, skilled manpower shortages, limited local manufacturing capabilities and infrastructural issues.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the ongoing debate on renewable energy supply and uses, focusing on how SHP stations could contribute to sustainable rural electrification and achieve the 2030 United Nations agenda for sustainable development, which, among other things, aims to safeguard access to sustainable and modern energy and alleviate energy poverty.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful for the constructive comments from the two anonymous reviewers and the journal editor, whose comments helped to improve the manuscript. The authors are also grateful to all the respondents who helped provide this information for this study.
Citation
Haulle, E. and Ndimbo, G.K. (2024), "Sustainable rural electrification: small hydropower stations, electrification and rural welfare improvement in Tanzania", International Journal of Development Issues, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJDI-08-2023-0194
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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