A solar-powered water treatment facility is currently underway in Tanzania which will help improve sanitation in refugee camps in the country. The initiative will generate 226 kW of power to provide a continuous supply of safe water to the end users.
The project is co-funded by Christian NGO Water Mission and Denmark's Poul Due Jensen Foundation that owns Grundfos. Specialized in pump technology, Danish company Grundfos has reportedly committed to $5.3 million over the next three years to the project.
The project was first announced by the two partners in December 2016. The two stated back then that it will be the world's largest solar-powered pumping solution ever built. It is being built in close coordination with the Government of Tanzania and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The project will pump 100% of the water using solar power with diesel generators as back up. Water Mission has been using SolarWorld panels for its projects in locations that battle extreme weather conditions, reported Anadolu Agency Energy News Terminal. The solar water pumps will come from Grundfos.
"The Western Tanzania project will showcase that solar pumping is a durable, affordable, and cost-saving solution, in rural regions that are difficult to service and maintain,"said Christian Hartvig, the foundation's executive director.
The project is expected to take three years. The service providers will carry out retrofitting of nine existing boreholes in the Nyarugusu and Mtendeli settlements.
Studies, design, and solar installations at the nine wells will be completed by the end of 2017. Engineering of the project will be undertaken by Water Mission.
Tanzania currently is catering to some 11,000 to 238,000 refugees from neighboring Burundi, as per aid agencies.