End-to-End Solar Borehole Business Models and Data Collection to Extend Sustainable Access to Energy and Water in Rural Tanzania

SVRG和OMASI合作为坦桑尼亚的一个项目提供了一项能源催化剂赠款，旨在开发技术，鼓励社区定期偿还太阳能钻孔电力系统的费用，并在未付款的情况下切断电力。现有的柴油发电机也在现场，所以这些社区没有水的问题。社区已经习惯了现收现付的技术，当拖欠付款时，这种技术就会被切断，并接受它们。我们目前正在试验的技术和商业模式应该会在两年后完成还款，之后系统将免费提供水泵。在完成ECR9项目的初始社区参与工作和选址时，SVRG和OMASI注意到，社区一直将水的获取作为他们的首要任务，要么是为已经有钻孔的社区提供更多的水，要么是为没有钻孔的社区提供更多的水。获得更多水的唯一方法，特别是在目前没有水的社区，就是钻新的钻孔。然而，这是一个高风险和昂贵的过程，通常由政府水务机构（RUWASA）或非政府组织执行。由于我们的技术可以确保偿还，因此它也可以用于偿还钻井和安装井眼的成本，从而首次将整个过程转移到私营部门。我们估计，如果采用合适的技术、金融模型和风险缓解措施，根据目前的水价和柴油成本，有可能在五年内收回这一项目的全部成本，而利用目前的商业资本融资产品，这几乎是可能的。对于那些已经钻了井，但缺乏资金（即没有发电机或水泵）的地方，更直接的影响可能是完成。我们可以使用我们在这个项目中开发的相同模型和技术来完成这些系统，并在3-4年内得到社区的回报。

SVRG and OMASI collaborated on a Energy Catalyst 9 grant on a project in Tanzania to develop technology to encourage communities to make their regular repayments for solar borehole power systems, by being able to cut off power in cases of non-payment. Preexisting diesel generators are on site, so there is no question of the communities being without water. And communities are used to pay-as-you-go technology that cuts off when payments are missed, and accept them. The technology and business models we are currently trialling should result in repayments being completed after two years, after which time the system provides water pumping free of charge.While completing initial community engagement work and site selection for the ECR9 project SVRG and OMASI noticed that water access was consistently being mentioned by communities as their single highest priority, either for more water in communities that already have a borehole, or water availability in communities that do not. The only way to get more water, especially in communities with no access to water at the moment, is to drill new boreholes. This is a high risk and expensive process however, that is usually carried out either by the government agency for water (RUWASA) or by NGOs. Since our technology can ensure repayments are made, it is possible it could also be used to repay the costs of drilling and installing boreholes as well, moving the whole process into the private sector for the first time. With suitable technology, financial models and risk mitigations we estimate it might be possible to recover the whole costs of such a project in five years based on current water prices and diesel costs, which is just about possible with current commercial capital financing products.More immediate high impact is possible in completing sites that have already drilled boreholes, but lacked the funds to make them operational (ie no generator or pump). We can use the same models and technologies that we aim to develop in this project to finish those systems, and have the community repay within 3-4 years.