25 November 2014: The Energy and Environment Partnership (EEP) has announced its project of the year for 2014, a prepaid electricity microgrid project by Devergy for rural electricity in Tanzania. The Devergy grids have been deployed in six villages in the Bagamoyo and Morogoro districts in
 Tanzania, with approximately 800 paying customers connected to the grids.

The system features an energy meter that provides a pay-per-use energy service, where each user tops up his or her energy account by buying credit. Credit can be purchased for the same value as mobile phone credit, and prices are lower than kerosene lighting or commercial phone charging. Devergy covers the majority of the energy grid’s installation cost, except for an initial connection fee, thus enabling lower-income customers to access the service.

The project has established village appliances sales and customer care, employed 15 staff, mostly local Tanzanians, and trained numerous technicians. 
In addition, a village acquisition process has been defined and validated, and grid and meter deployment procedures have been established.

EEP promotes renewable energy, energy efficiency and clean technology investments. It began in 2002 in Central America and has also been implemented in Southeast Asia and Africa. Devergy is a social energy utility that provides a reliable, easy to use electrical service, which is affordable for low-income populations not connected to the power grid. Since the completion of the EEP-funded project, Devergy has continued to grow and is planning to extend operations to other regions in Tanzania. [EEP Project of the Year Announcement][EEP Africa Website] [Devergy Website]