Tanzania Partnership

The USAID-NREL Partnership is providing resources and hands-on training on power system modeling tools for renewable energy integration to the bulk power system. NREL is hosting ongoing working group sessions to support power system engineers in using the skills developed during the training workshops. Through this model, the working groups can focus on tackling a specific technical subject, and, in tandem, the USAID-NREL Partnership can provide applicable tool training as needs arise.

Key questions and concerns regarding renewable energy grid integration for Tanzania’s power sector can be addressed using NREL tools such as the RE Data Explorer and the System Advisor Model. NREL provided an overview of state-of-the-art technical approaches for the following topics:

• Renewable energy forecasting and integrating renewable energy into system operations
• Flexibility assessment and/or production of cost modeling
• Capacity expansion modeling
• Resource adequacy modeling
• Renewable energy plant performance and financial modeling
• Open-access wind and solar data for site assessment and grid modeling
• Optimal project sizing, hybrid design, and financial modeling
• Assessment of infrastructure vulnerabilities and resilience opportunities
• Integrated resource and resilience planning.

NREL worked with University of Wisconsin to develop a regional high-fidelity solar dataset for all of Africa. This data shows the average amount of sunlight received over the course of the year in 2-km² resolution. The underlying solar resource data comes from 17 years of satellite observations (2005–2022).

Following the release of this data, NREL hosted capacity building sessions with stakeholders to train on how this data can be integrated into prior tools and analyses and used with other open-source tools for translating this data into clean energy targets and goals. This data advances the near-term integration of 350 MW of renewables and opens the door to increased renewable energy deployment in Tanzania.