Kikuletwa Renewable Energy Training and Research Centre on a mission to transform energy sector

Kikuletwa Hydropower Station lies on the western end of the Sanya Plains, about 20 km south-west of Moshi.

Currently Kikuletwa is accessed through a road 20 km earth road from Bomang’ombe town about 20 km from Moshi town, on the Moshi-Arusha highway and about 70 km from Arusha city.

Kilimanjaro International Airport lies only 12 Kilometres further west from Kikuletwa.

In year 2014, Arusha Technical Col­lege (ATC) acquired the ownership of the power plant to the college, so that it can transform into international train­ing centre, as well supplying power to the national grid.

ATC is thus rehabilitating and devel­oping the power station to start serving as centre of excellence in renewable energy training focusing on hydropow­er, solar, wind and biomass and con­currently supply power to the national grid.

Feasibility studies have indicated that the current Kikuletwa potential is 1.7 Megawatt, but the site may poten­tially provide up to 17 MW of electricity by considering cascade potential. Kiku­letwa Renewable Energy Training and Research Centre (KRETC) is designat­ed to conduct courses in clean energy technologies.

The mission of KRETC lies into three initiatives; a training centre for artisan, technicians and professional in power generations technologies; micro hydro turbine testing and certification centre; and active participation in pow­er generation by using renewable ener­gy resources.

Training activities

The selection of courses for Kikulet­wa Training Centre are based on the situation analysis conducted by Arusha Technical College (ATC) by involving various stakeholders from energy and electricity sector, education sector and government policy developers.

The analysis revealed that there were no institutions offering skills totally specialized in renewable energy resources power generation and there is a demand for professions in renewa­ble energy skills.

Courses were developed to fill the gap by starting trainings in hydro-elec­tric power generation, which is the most commonly used energy sources of them all.

Identified courses

Long-term trainings (artisans’ pro­grammes)

• Programmes names (nva i-iii)

a) Hydropower plants operation and maintenances;

b) Solar electric systems installa­tion;

c) Bio- energy systems construc­tion;

d) Wind energy systems installa­tion;

e) Domestic electrical installation;

f) Plumbing and pipe fitting; and

g) Masonry and brick and laying.

Short-term training

Several programmes shall be devel­oped generally for renewable energy personnel on technologies like Hydro­power, Solar, Wind, and Biomass ener­gy resources.

The first introduced courses includes:-

a) Hydropower plants operations and maintenances;

b) Solar PV systems, sizing, instal­lation and service and mainte­nances;

c) PLC in hydropower plant engi­neering;

d) Maintenance of hydropower distribution network;

e) Design and construction of elec­tric distribution network;

f) Transformer and motor rewind­ing technology; and

g) Mini hydropower turbine devel­opment.

Implementation

For the name of the centre current­ly120 students are enrolled, whereby in five years we expect to have 120 train­ees on site for long courses and short professional courses.

Kikuletwa EASTRIP project

Kikuletwa Renewable Energy Research and Training Centre has been selected by the world bank group to be among ten (10) centres in East African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Tan­zania for financing so as to transform them into Regional Flagship Training Institutes (RFTI) for TVET training programs particularly for EASTRIP project.

Kikuletwa is selected to be trans­formed to flagship Centre in TVET training in renewable energy skills.

The project’s development objec­tives are to increase the access and improve the quality of TVET programs and to support regional integration and regional economic corridors.

The objectives and results will be achieved through activities grouped under three components, priority being to strengthen selected Regional TVET Centers of Excellence for high quality skills development in related sectors, Secondly to help in capacity building for national TVET systems and enhancing regional collaborative capacity in TVET and project coordi­nation.

So, through this project the cen­tre benefits for increased number of classrooms, engineering workshops, modern training equipment, increased skills for teachers and trainers, and increased collaboration with industries in training.

One milestone for the project is to enroll cross border students for long courses, currently East African coun­tries they have different qualification framework, which makes it difficult for graduates from one country to be recognized in the other countries. For centre of excellence to achieve this goal, the East African countries through rel­evant policies, need to harmonize the recognition of the qualifications from neighboring countries.

Success stories

ATC have managed to conduct a situ­ation analysis on the demand on renew­able energy skills to various industries, the situation analysis resulted into development of five new programmes for technicians and artisans, draft doc­ument are already discussed by key stakeholders and will be submitted to National Council for Technical Educa­tion (NACTE) for validation soon.

Arusha Technical College has suc­ceeded to secure additional support from Hanze University of Netherland which will support the training of teachers for renewable energy technol­ogies and also gender mainstreaming to support female student in taking engi­neering courses, especially in renewa­ble energy skills.

 Ordinary Diploma Programs offered at Kiku­letwa Campus

1. Diploma in Electrical and Solar PV Systems Engineering

2. Diploma in Wind Energy and Electrical Engi­neering

3. Diploma in Mechanical and Bio-energy Sys­tems Engineering

Admission Requirements

A certificate of Secondary Education with a min­imum pass grade of D in Mathematics, physics/ Engineering Science, Chemistry and English OR

National Vocational Award (NVA) Level III in Electrical offered by VETA, Secondary Educa­tion Certificate and Pre-technology Certificate offered by a recognized institution.

Pre-Technology Program

Applicants must be holders of certificate of Sec­ondary Education Examination (CSEE) and NVAs – 3 or Trade Test 1

Kikuletwa Campus through EASTRIP Project has offered a scholarship of three programs to be funded by the project for 90/%. The programs include

• Hydropower plant Operation and Mainte­nances

• Solar electric Systems Installation

• Bio-energy Systems Construction

• Wind energy Systems Installation

Accommodations

Accommodation to both Male and Female stu­dents is available. Female students are highly encouraged to apply.

Mode of Application

Application forms can be obtained from the office of Registrar at Arusha Technical College or can be downloaded from the College Website: http://www.atc.ac.tz

Other Requirements

a) Certified Copies of relevant Certificates such as CSEE, Academic Transcripts/ National Examination statements of results or result slp

b) Birth Certificate

c) School Leaving Certificate

d) Two colored personal passport size photo­graphs taken within the last six months

Enquiries

All enquiries about admission should be addressed to:

Admission Officer, Arusha Technical College,

P. O Box 296, Arusha, Tel. +255 27 29 70056, Fax +255 27 2548337

Email: [email protected]