edcl partners with private players to boost power supply
kigali st july - energy development corporation limited edcl has signed an agreement with off grid electrification companies to improve supply of electricity across the country the companies are mobisol neseltec and nots the initiative is part of the bid to have per cent electricity coverage of the country emmanuel kamanzi the edcl managing director l signing the agreement with bart hartman nots chief executive officer r at least per cent of the target will on-grid connection while per cent is expected to off-grid connections such as solar photovoltaic and mini grid among others according to jean bosco mugiraneza the chief executive officer of rwanda energy group limited the agreement is part of efforts to achieve the set target signing this agreement is one way towards achieving this target it’s not easy that’s why are changing strategies engaging more investors especially in off-grid solutions he said adding these new companies to the two existing is a new momentum to the off-grid solutions we hope to see changes in rural areas within a year he added emmanuel kamanzi the managing director of energy development corporation limited said the initiative will help in the reduction of use of kerosene candles in rural areas which are harmful to the health of users because of its fumes bart hartman the chief executive officer of nots enterprises said the off-grid system is cheaper than on-grid and will facilitate lighting of rural areas with off-grid solar system you can provide each with the system that caters for the needs of households there is a small system which is cheaper the bigger system and also have a moderate system one can start with one lamp and can upgrade and add a battery with higher capacity he said mobisol gmbh and ignite power limited are two companies that have been operating in the country the two companies have already signed an agreement with edcl to electrify and households respectively edcl realized that the two companies are not enough to achieve the percent of the off-grid electrification thus invited more companies on board people that represent percent of the population have currently access to electricity source reg