Geographical Information System (GIS) based approaches offer very interesting opportunities for least cost planning of rural electrification down to household level which is essential as the Philippines has almost reached 100% barangay electrification level which is the most costly.

As part of the SWITCH Policy Support initiative funded by the EU, a technical training on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for the purpose of “Households electrification planning in remote areas” was conducted in Philippines during April 2015. The training, mainly held in Manila targeted Department of Energy (DOE), National Power Corporation (NPC-SPUG) and National Electrification Administration (NEA) staff.

The 8 days training, organized by DOE and conducted by IED, was divided into 3 phases:

1-     An informational workshop wherein IED presented various possible GIS applications applied to the energy sector particularly dedicated for Households electrification planning purposes.

2- A technical GIS training targeting 13 participants from the above institutions and from Batelec II was done at DOE’s office for the next days. A practical case study was performed by participants using GIS software and real provincial data. This phase included both theoretical lectures and practical exercises.

3- A field work focused on practical use of GPS. The Batangas cooperative BATELEC II, represented by its General Manager Octavio Mendoza, kindly welcomed and supported the group for this 3 days phase. The on-field work was focused on collecting points related to electrical infrastructures using GPS devices and then integrating gathered data into a GIS database.

Press release

During the Extraordinary General Meeting held in Paris on December 2, 2014 the new articles of association transforming the Club of African Agencies and Structures in charge of Rural Electrification into the African Association for Rural Electrification were adopted. The official abbreviation of the Association remains "CLUB-ER", both in French and in English; the headquarters of the CLUB-ER will be in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire.

The CLUB-ER is currently composed of 40 African national institutions responsible for rural electrification (agencies, funds, regulators, departments of energy, utilities) coming from 30 African countries. A transition team will ensure CLUB-ER operation and formalities and will elaborate with the steering committee a new work plan until the new Executive Secretariat is recruited and in place. Full handing over to the new team will be at the next General Assembly which will take place in Abidjan by the end of 2015.

The vision of the CLUB-ER is to accelerate the development of access to electrical energy services in the rural areas of the African continent, by creating the relevant framework conditions and by systematizing the beneficial pooling of experience among agencies and structures in charge of rural electrification.

The activities of CLUB-ER will notably be centred on three main targets:

1. Capacity strengthening and expertise

Strengthening the capacities and knowledge base of public and private players in order to be in a position to fully participate in the formulation of policies and the harmonisation of institutional frameworks in view of elaborating and implementing investment programmes in rural electrification,

1. Capitalization, experience exchange and knowledge management

Experience exchange and capitalizing on good practices lessons learnt is key to sustainable implementation of programmes in view of increasing access to electrical services,

1. Pooling resources

Setting up procedures and a dynamic pooling of technical and financial resources with the aim of: (i) reinforcing the capacities and expertise of CLUB-ER Members; (ii) managing knowledge and related communication, and (iii) implementing innovative actions and demonstrating new technical, financial or organisational rural electrification models.

For more information check the CLUB-ER website: www.club-er.fr or contact the CLUB-ER

Financed by NORAD, the National Electrification Program Prospectus was presented by IED on June 19th 2014 in Dar Es Salaam at Blue Pearl Hotel for a national workshop organized in collaboration with the Rural Energy Agency (REA).

The objectives  of the document achieved after 2 years's work, was to provide an outline of nation-wide electrification program for Tanzania (on-grid, off-grid, other technologies) providing the basis for coordinated investments and capacity building efforts of stakeholders (Government, donors, private sector) until 2022. A geospatial approach through GEOSIM tool was particularly used to evaluate investment needs on grid extension. The PROSPECTUS also identified required implementation measures, indicating the costs of the proposed electrification program and reflecting on financing issues.