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Ambatosia Bealalana — 1.7 MW, paid by mobile money

A 1.7 MW plant in the Boeny region of Madagascar, commissioned in 2022 and described by the operator as the first plant in the country to bill its customers through mobile-prepayment metering. Together with its twin Sahatona, it took the operating portfolio past the 4 MW mark.

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1.7 MWinstalled capacity
2022commissioned
2,200households supplied
Prepaidmobile-money metering

1 The project

Ambatosia Bealalana is located in Boeny, on Madagascar’s western coast. Commissioned in 2022 as a twin programme to Sahatona — same year, same delivery framework, same consortium — it lifted the alliance’s operating portfolio in Madagascar past 4 MW and serves around 2,200 households.

2 The prepaid, mobile-money metering model

The plant is described by its operator as the first in Madagascar to bill customers through mobile-prepayment metering. The model is straightforward: a customer tops up credit using mobile money, the meter dispenses electricity against that credit, and revenue arrives before the energy is consumed.

For rural utilities, this matters more than any single technical figure. The two classic failure points of small grids are collection cost and cash-handling risk — sending staff village to village to collect payments, and the leakage that comes with it. Prepaid metering removes both: the operator’s revenue is settled digitally, in advance, and the field team’s job becomes maintenance instead of debt collection.

Ambatosia is the working proof that this model runs on a multi-megawatt hydro plant in Madagascar — not only on small solar mini-grids.

3 Why it matters

  • A revenue model that survives contact with reality. Prepaid mobile-money billing addresses the cash-collection weakness that stalls most rural utilities.
  • Twin-plant delivery. Two plants of this scale commissioned in the same year shows a repeatable delivery framework, not a one-off.
  • A first, documented by the operator. We quote the operator’s own description rather than inventing a ranking.
Key factDetail
PlantAmbatosia Bealalana HPP
LocationBoeny region, Madagascar
Installed capacity1.7 MW
Commissioned2022
Billing modelMobile-prepayment metering (operator-described first in Madagascar)
Supplied loads2,200 households
StatusIn operation
Site photography is published only with the owner’s consent. A photo set and the plant’s technical record are available on request — write to sales@tch-hydro.com.

Ambatosia — FAQ

How does prepaid mobile-money metering work in practice?

Each customer has a prepaid meter linked to their mobile-money account. They buy credit for a chosen amount, receive a token, and enter it at the meter. The meter supplies electricity until the credit runs out. For the operator this means revenue is collected digitally, in advance, with no village-to-village cash collection.

Can a plant we are planning use the same model?

Yes. Prepaid metering is part of our micro-grid and rural electrification scope, alongside the generation equipment. Tell us the number of customers and the tariff structure you plan, and we will size the metering and payment chain accordingly.

What turbine type is installed?

As with Sahatona, the turbine configuration is part of the plant’s technical record, shared on request with the owner’s consent. What we can state publicly: the plant was delivered in the same 2022 programme as Sahatona and is in operation today.

Planning a mini-grid with prepaid billing?

Generation, distribution, metering and the payment chain work as one system. Send us your customer count and tariff plan — we reply within two working days.

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More case studies: Sahatona 1.6 MW · Enshi Tangkou 4 × 11 MW retrofit · All case studies · HIER Madagascar portfolio
Direct: sales@tch-hydro.com · +86 158 7484 2996
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