Federal officials are putting final touches on a bill that will compel imported solar technologies to undergo pre-verification of conformity assessments before shipments.

The Ministry of Trade & Regional Integration (MTRI) initiated the bill five years ago, expected to be ratified by federal legislators by the end of this year, disclosed Eyasu Semone, director of import and export conformity control. Businesses in solar technologies will have to ensure conformity and obtain certifications before being permitted to import and assemble solar products.

Pre-verification of conformity is a procedure applied to ensure the compliance of imported products with standards, specifications and regulations. The assessments are conducted in the country of origin for solar home systems, solar lanterns and cooking stoves businesses import. They have not been subjected to conformity, although they acquire standard certification voluntarily.

In partnership with the Ethiopian Standards Agency, the Ministry began pre-shipment inspections last year after signing an agreement with Bureau Veritas and Cotecna.

The two firms were selected after winning an international tender for inspection services. They were the only bidders, although five firms had initially shown interest. The bid, which had gone through emendations, was closed at the beginning of the year.

"Their wide coverage is one of the reasons for selecting these companies," said Eyasu.

Incorporated in 1828, Bureau Veritas is a French company operating in 140 countries, specialising in testing, inspection and certification services. Based in Switzerland, Cotecna does provide similar services globally. Established in 1974, it operates in 50 countries with over 100 offices and laboratories.

Officials say the international inspection companies were hired because Ethiopia lacks adequate inspection facilities.

The bill, after being legislated, will require importers of solar products to get standard certifications from the two international inspection firms. The law will subject stand-alone solar solutions - energy systems independent of grid structures to convert battery energy into usable power - to pre-shipment inspections. The demand for off-grid solutions is rising as a potential alternative to electric power provided to segments of the population with no access to the national grid. Around half of Ethiopia's geography is without electric coverage, albeit a significant improvement from 17pc a decade ago.

Off-grid solutions such as solar energy are significant components of the federal government’s universal electrification programme. The price for a kilowatt of power generated from solar energy is 0.025 dollars, higher than the 0.007 dollars for households and 0.020 dollars for businesses the national grid provides.