Togolese hospitals and vocational schools, on whose roofs new solar systems are now installed, save a good 1,000 euros per month in energy costs. This is not the only benefit of the partnership between the municipalities of Tchaoudjo 1 (formerly Sokodé), Lacs 1 (formerly Aného) in Togo, and Nuremberg in Germany. The Bavarian State Chancellery has strongly supported the project financially through the mediation of Josef Göppel, one of the two Ambassadors for Green Energy for Africa.
At two hospitals and two vocational schools in Tchaoudjo 1 and Lacs 1, 323 brand new solar panels now convert the sun’s free energy into electricity that is suitable for everyday use; in the case of the schools and hospitals, the electricity is used for medical equipment, computers or refrigerators. Almost 130,000 people live in the two Togolese cities and now benefit from the additional possibilities offered by solar power.
This partnership also enables the two hospitals to invest the savings that they gain from the electricity for medical services and other efficiency strategies to treat their patients better in the future. The two vocational schools involved now also have demonstration systems on their roofs on which they can train future technicians. On-site training of the installation technicians and a municipal exchange of expertise between the three municipalities were also part of the project.
The two Togolese municipalities, the Nuremberg Office for International Relations and the Department for Environment and Health planned the project together with mayors and vocational school teachers as well as energy experts. Nuremberg’s Lord Mayor Markus König emphasises the good cooperation between the Togolese and German cities involved: “The involvement of the municipalities offers great advantages because they have a lot of experience in dealing with everyday problems and are close to what helps the population. People from more than 40 African countries live in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg.
This cooperation came into being five years ago. The Special Representative for Energy in Africa of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Ambassador of Green People’s Energy for Africa, Josef Göppel, was able to make a decisive contribution to the realisation of the project: he convinced the Bavarian State Chancellery to take over 90 percent of the investment costs for the solar plants.
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