Turning to sun: a case study on pilot high capacity solar powered boreholes in emergency context in Horn of Africa

This case study focusses on high capacity solar powered water supply systems installed by Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in emergency contexts in South Central Somalia and Dadaab Refugee Camps in Kenya. The solar systems are a series of projects aiming at replacing existing diesel-powered systems in order to reduce operation and maintenance costs in deep boreholes ranging from 80m to 150m deep and with dynamic heads of as high as 170m. The systems have already reduced financial operating costs, energy dependency on fossil fuel, reduction of carbon footprint while at the same time conserving environment. Some of the projects are collaboration of Public-Private Partnership with the private borehole owners who in return have passed the benefits to the end users with reduced tariffs up to 50%. Initial cost analyses indicate a favourable return on investment of 3 to 5 years depending on the size of the solar system installed.