Green Scene Ethiopia has started work on a pilot solar pump project to keep water flowing for 2,000 people in the nation’s arid Afar region.
Under the plans, solar-powered pumps will be installed across 10 woredas to increase water supply in each by up to 38,000 liters a day. Currently, local people have to spend a lot of their days fetching and drawing water from wells by hand, so that their families and livestock do not go thirsty.
These pastoralists also have to keep digging new, and deeper wells, as Afar’s long dry season persists, in order to get every drop of water that they can. All this holds them back.
The solar pumps will free up their days by making water supply more effortless, and without the need to transport any fuel to refill expensive diesel pumps. Afar is not short of solar energy, with an average of seven hours of sunshine a day. Furthermore, solar panels require little maintenance, making Green Scene’s solar pumps a practical and affordable solution.
The solar pumps will allow more water to be brought to the surface and stored in tanks, for easier, more reliable, year-round access — so people in Afar can focus on making a living for their families.
Six in ten people in Ethiopia are not connected to the national electricity grid. Thankfully, in the sun, the power is there. Green Scene is working to tap into it, in order to power homes, businesses and schools, and water pumps for farms and people, and in this way to empower all Ethiopians to unleash their energies, and work, study and live.
We are also currently working on plans for solar-pumping projects involving irrigation in Oromia regional state, and on community mini-grids to meet the wider energy needs in Ethiopia’s off-grid communities.
