Tanzania’s first-ever wind farm in Mwenga in the Mufindi district of Tanzania’s Iringa region started generating electricity in early June 2020 as part of its start up testing procedures.
Construction of the 2.4MW power plant was completed in May 2020. It was made possible thanks to a loan from the Renewable Energy Performance Platform (REPP), and is operated by the Rift Valley Energy Group.
The plant is complement by a hydropower plant to provide clean, grid-quality electricity to over 4,500 homes and businesses across 32 villages, including energy-intensive end users such as tea-processing companies and sawmills, as well as the region’s rapidly growing SME sector.
Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director of Camco Clean Energy, REPP’s investment manager, said: “Wind energy has the potential to be a major contributor to the energy mix of many countries in Africa, but currently remains a mostly untapped resource. The new wind farm at Mwenga is a demonstration to other developers and investors in Tanzania and beyond that wind is a viable, replicable and bankable energy solution.”
