Monday, 13 May 2024
News — Africa Minigrids Program (AMP) Eswatini has brought pride to our community
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“Having electricity in our homes in our remote community of Mvundla is something we never imagined”
AMP Eswatini established its first pilot project in Mvundla near Sigcineni in Manzini, bringing much excitement to the area. This pilot was successfully established by the Eswatini Electricity Company, as a pilot project to determine the viability of minigrids in Eswatini. The EEC partnered with AMP Eswatini by offering access to its Sigcineni Minigrid Pilot Project, and allowing other development partners including the UNDP and GEF to chip in with funding to the tune of X USD for a Productive Use of Energy (PUE) overlay on the availed minigrid.
This overlay was earmarked to increase the capacity utilisation factor and decrease the estimated levelized Cost of Energy (COE) of this minigrid system from 7.51/kwh without PUE overlay to 5.61/kwh with PUE overlay. In addition, the overlay is earmarked to increase lifetime carbon emission savings from the minigrid system.
The Mvundla pilot was succesfully established, with twenty two connections already having been made, which are benefitting 108 beneficiaries, including community establishments such as two churches.
The development of electric energy systems for communities in distant settlements such as these, contributes to rural electrification and improves the socio-economic status of these communities significantly.
One of the project beneficiaries for this program Make Sthembile Khumalo, shares her personal experiences with us since the setting up of the minigrid.
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Greetings. My name is Sthembile Khumalo. My marital home is at Mvundla where I currently reside. Today we were visited by Babe Makhanya from the Africa Minigrids Program. We are very grateful for the electrical power that the Program connected for us through the solar minigrid here in Mvundla. When we first heard about this project, we never thought that it would come to fruition, but now it has and we are very happy.
Our homes are connected to solar power and we even have street lights. People would steal from us in the absence of these streetlights but today we have power we are happy. We also used to struggle with the storage of our meat and other food items and had to cross the Ngwempisi tebetebe bridge to go and request our neighbors on the other side of the bridge to store our food in their fridges. Unfortunately, at times we would find that our meat has been eaten upon returning to fetch it.
However, due to AMP Eswatini, we now have electricity at Mvundla and we no longer struggle. Crime has even lessened in our area and cases of our crops and chickens being stolen in the night are something of the past. We are very happy.
Thank you, AMP Eswatini, for changing our lives and making us proud residents of Mvundla.
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