In Tanzania, the lack of electricity and the threat of unreliable and inadequate electricity supply threatens economic development, livelihoods, and well-being . National electrification rates do not surpass 25%, and electrification does not even hit 5% in rural areas. Unreliable power in Tanzania hampers the ability of clinics and health care providers to provide the essential services they are meant to provide. Hospitals and clinics located near an electricity grid connection have traditionally relied on grid power as a primary energy source. Yet power failures or outages during periods of peak electricity demand are a problem even in grid-connected cities and regions. This forces clinics to rely on expensive backup generators – or to remain without power. Quality and reliability issues are not captured in traditional access indicators. This means that the severity of the energy access challenge and its implications on human development and economic productivity are misrepresented.
The Electricity Supply Monitoring Initiative (ESMI) is a project that will help in developing a reliable database on electricity service quality delivered to clinics in Tanzania.. The initiative aims at creating evidence based feedback about electricity supply quality by recording minute by minute voltage supply at different locations in the country and making this information publicly available to all stakeholders, including citizens and local authorities.
This initiative is being jointly implemented by The Energy Change Lab based out of Dar es Salaam and Prayas (Energy Group) from India and World Resources Institute, Washington.