International finalists Sustainable energy building

Ashden Awards Imperial College Seminar
Local Sustainable Energy
International finalists
Sustainable energy building local
enterprise
18th June 2008
Ashden Awards Imperial College Seminar
Local Sustainable Energy
Cooperative uses mini hydro to increase
electricity supply on local grid
João Alderi do Prado
CRERAL
18th June 2008
CRERAL
 Founded 23 July 1969
 Objective: to manage the
supply of electrical power
to rural areas
 Predominately arable
and livestock farming
 15 hectares per family
 First electrical power
grids in 1970
6,300 members, 85% in
rural areas
120 communities in 37
towns
240 community leaders
working as volunteers
Leader council: more than
50 elected members
Fiscal council: six elected
members, administrative
council: 11 elected
members
General assembly once a
year
CRERAL
Energy distribution
 Part of the energy is
purchased from a private
company (77.1% in 2007)
 Distribution via 1,830km
of grids owned and
maintained by CRERAL
 Associates take their
own meter readings
 Monthly invoices
 Average monthly
consumption is 264
kWh per family
 From 2001 to 2007
average consumption
increased 20.5%
 Distributed energy
19,863,294 kWh
Approved in 1997 in the
general assembly
Energy generation
without negative social
impacts on the
environment
Options for small-scale
hydro projects:
 Local consumption
 Without transmission
lines
 Low generation cost
 Financing from public
and private banks
Energy generation
In operation since 2000
Power: 720 kW
Distributed on the grids
Generation capacity: 3,730
MWh/year
Families attended
1,500 (in 2001)
1,150 (in 2007)
Investment:
US$620,000
40% BNDES
(National Development Bank)
60% from cooperative
Abaúna hydro plant
Cascata das Andorinhas hydro plant
In operation since 2003
Power: 1.2 MW
Distributed on the grids
Generation capacity:
6,740 MWh/year
Families attended
2,500 (in 2003)
2,130 (in 2007)
Investment:
US$800,000
70% BNDES (National
Development Bank)
30% from cooperative
Carbon credits
Benefits
 Increased quality
and quantity of
energy
 Strengthened
distribution system
 Possibility of using
more electrical
devices to increase
productivity in rural
areas
 Possibility of using
more household
appliances, improving
the comfort level
Benefits
 Any surplus is
re-invested on the grids
and on supply:
 Guaranteed supply of
energy for the
associates
 New posts
 The mini hydro
schemes guarantee
energy supply in the
case of faults with the
external supply
company
 New transformers
 New cables
 Maintenance
 New hydro projects
 Import/export to
national grid
 Reduced CO2 emissions
 Andorinhas up to May
2007 – 4,842 tonnes CO2
 Abaúna up to December
2007 – 4,777 tonnes CO2
 In 2007 CRERAL
earned US$17,000 from
the sales of carbon credits
from Andorinhas.
Conclusions
 Generation from mini hydro is a sustainable
source of energy
 It is possible to replicate anywhere with the right
water resources
 It is economically and technically viable
 It benefits all the people involved
 It provides guaranteed energy for work,
production, income and better quality of life
Thank you for listening
Ashden Awards Imperial College Seminar
Local Sustainable Energy
Solar drying business links rural farmers
with export markets
Angello Ndyaguma
Fruits of the Nile
18th June 2008
Situation of Uganda
• Uganda is landlocked. The
nearest port (Mombasa) is over
1,500km away
• Population 30m: 90% live in
rural areas and depend on small
scale agriculture
• The climate varies, but supports
agriculture through the year
• Close to 85% of the economy
is engaged in small acreage
subsistence agro-based primary
production
Background
• Project started in 1991 by
Angello Ndyaguma, with
assistance from Adam Brett and
Kate Sebag for the first few
years
• It targeted the productive rural
areas, women and youth
• Excess production of nontraditional crops during the high
season went to waste, as it was
not processed or preserved
• Crops targeted for drying
include apple banana,
bogoya banana, pineapple,
papaya, etc.
Challenges
• Crops are highly perishable and seasonal
• Little processing or storage to handle the products
• Poor infrastructure: poor roads,
no inland railway, no cold
storage, sea port is
1,500+ km away
• Production exceeds demand
during the high season
• Farmers are poor, small scale,
subsistence and rural
• Farmers can hardly
read or write
Traditional distribution
of pineapples
Overcoming the challenges
•
•
•
Use of sustainable appropriate technology
Training farmers with attitudes to change and adapt
Committed FoN founders and staff
Overcoming the challenges
•
Dried fruit means the product can withstand the
six week trip: Uganda-Mombasa-Europe
•
Stable and fair prices offered for dried fruit
•
Committed marketing partners in UK
•
Partner organisations (Shell Foundation, Gatsby
and Ashden Trusts, UNIFEM, Fair trade, Africare,
Sainsbury Trust–Comic Relief)
•
Ugandan political environment supporting business
Achievements
• Currently over 600 solar driers
FoN Packhouse Njeru
• Current production is 120
tonnes per annum, compared to
0.5 tonnes in 1991
• FoN’s 630m2 food-grade
packhouse
• Adding value: 4,800 tonnes of
fresh fruit are used to make 120
tonnes of dry product
Dryer operators, Mbarara
Achievements
•
Income generation and reduced
post-harvest losses
•
Prolonged shelf life of the
products (up to 18 months)
•
Alternative steady export
market
•
Enough tonnage to fill a sea
shipment container periodically
(reduced freight cost)
•
Installation of eight solar PV
systems
Solar Dryers, Kayunga Uganda
Solar PV system
Achievements
•
Provision of employment
– 800+ growers
– 120+ drier operators
– 2,600+ directly employed workers
– 37 FoN packhouse employees
– Over 7,000 people directly benefit from the project
– Overall impact is 25,000+ people
•
Foreign exchange earning
•
Zero emission of environmentally harmful gases
during production
Conclusions
•
Solar drying, with organic farming and solar PV in
rural areas can effectively reduce poverty levels
•
The poor rural farmers can be organised to form micro
businesses that meet European standards
•
Private enterprises can increase rural people’s
income by introducing sustainable methods to them
•
The project is a successful example of a private
enterprise working with NGOs to enhance income
generation in rural areas
•
Despite our social approach, FoN is the leading
exporter of dried fruits in Uganda, and perhaps East
Africa
Thank you for listening