The Zanzibar blackout : A case study on consequences from an electricity power crisis

AbstractAvailability of electricity in developing countries is by no doubt a tool for development.However, the development cannot be sustainable if necessary back-up facilities are not in place.This is argued and demonstrated in this paper, using the last 10 years of development in Zanzibar as a case. In Zanzibar, the demand for electricity has grown fast and the amount of billed electricity increased with more than 50 % from year 2003 to year 2007. The highest increase can be seen in the medium sized industries sector, where the tourism sector consisted of a large proportion.With increased dependency of electricity, the fundament for a more vulnerable society is also created. This is illustrated by the economic and social depression that hit Zanzibar during the breakdowns of the power system that occurred for one month in 2008 and for almost three months in 2009-2010. As there where no public back-up generation facility in Zanzibar, this resulted in a total electrical blackout and the citizens had to rely on private electricity generation. In the paper some examples of the consequences are given.