Author: Ondrej Krnac

Location

Lusaka, Zambia

Industry

Food processing

Installed Capacity

99 kWp PV +
124 kWh Battery

Contract Lenght

20 years

Local Food Processing

Our customer is a local food producer, producing over 80 different kinds of chillies, pickles and other bottled products. They proudly use local Zambian produce to ensure their products are always fresh and high quality. Their strong partnerships with local farmers provides stable incomes, fair prices, and growth opportunities.

Challenges with Unstable Energy

Located just outside of Lusaka, the factory faces frequent power cuts due to heavy load shedding. These disruptions force them to stop operations, delaying production and impacting not only their output, but also the farmers who rely on them. Despite these challenges, their products remain popular with customers in local supermarkets as well as hospitality and catering businesses, highlighting the importance of reliable energy to sustain their operations and community impact.

Hybrid System

GRIPS Energy installed a 99 kWh + 124 kWp battery hybrid system that operates independently from the grid and the existing diesel generator. This system supplies clean, renewable energy to the food processing facility, ensuring uninterrupted operations even during load shedding or power cuts. With this solution, the factory can maintain consistent production without relying on unstable grid power.

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Location

Lusaka, Zambia

Industry

Food Processing

Installed Capacity

374 kWp PV +
800 kWh Battery

Meat Processing

Our customer is involved in every part of meat processing, distributing their products nationwide. Commited to being an integral part of their surrounding community, the company produces exclusively in their Zambian facility, sourcing local products to contribute to the growth of the national livestock sector, while delivering the highest quality to their customers.

Load Shedding Issues

The facility is located in an area that experiences frequent load shedding, posing a significant challenge given their 24/7 operations to meet production demands.

To combat these power disruptions, GRIPS implemented a hybrid PV and battery system. This solution ensures uninterrupted operations, with the photovoltaic system supplying power during the day and charging the battery for seamless energy supply throughout the night.

Growing with our Customer

As demand our customers products grew, their business outgrew its existing capacity, prompting an expansion of their facility to meet the rising production needs.

Once again, they turned to us for support with their increasing energy requirements. In response, we upgraded their PV system, ensuring a stable and reliable energy supply to keep pace with their growth.

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Igara PV plant:

Buhweju PV plant:

Location
in Uganda

Bushenyi District

Buhweju District

Installed
Capacity

499 kWp

425 kWp

Annual
Yield

854 000 kWh

692 000 kWh

Igara and Buhweju

Igara Grower’s Tea Factory Ltd is a key player in Uganda’s tea industry, comprised of 7,000 smallholder farmers.

The company operates two tea processing facilities: Igara Tea Factory, the largest smallholder-owned tea factory in the country, and Buhweju Tea Factory, established in 2010 as Uganda’s only smallholder-owned tea factory since 1969.

Together, they contribute 10% of the nation’s total tea production, playing a vital role in both the local economy and Uganda’s agricultural landscape.

Igara wants to become a model business for similar small scale organisations, and wants to generate good income for their farmers and stakeholders in a sustainable manner.

Challenges

What was holding Igara back were several challenges, that both factories faced in their operations.

Firstly, frequent power cuts due to an unstable grid forced them to rely heavily on diesel generators, which not only interrupted production but also resulted in higher costs and damaged machinery.

Additionally, the factories face high energy consumption due to the energy-intensive nature of tea processing activities like drying and withering.

Lastly, despite the clear benefits of renewable energy, the high upfront investment required posed a significant barrier to adopting this sustainable energy solution.

Our Solution

GRIPS Energy addressed these challenges by installing two solar PV systems: 499 kWp at Igara and 425 kWp at Buhweju.

Both systems operate on-grid and off-grid, integrating with the existing diesel generators to ensure uninterrupted power, especially during grid outages.

Designed for self-consumption, the systems significantly reduced the factories’ dependence on diesel, lowered energy costs, and ensured reliable power for uninterrupted tea processing.

As with all our projects, GRIPS manages operations, maintenance, and monitoring, guaranteeing optimal system performance; while our customer can focus on growing their business.

GRIPS Project Scope

System design
and engineering

Full financing
of the project

20 year lease
agreement

Commissioning
of installation

24/7 monitoring

O&M for the whole contract period

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German Energy Solutions Initiative

With the aim of positioning German technologies and know-how worldwide, the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) supports suppliers of climate-friendly energy solutions in opening up foreign markets. The focus lies on renewable energies, energy efficiency, smart grids and storage, as well as technologies such as power-to-gas and fuel cells. Aimed in particular at small and medium-sized enterprises, the German Energy Solutions Initiative supports participants through measures to prepare market entry as well as to prospect, develop and secure new markets.

Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (RES Programme)

With the RES programme, the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) helps German companies in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors enter new markets. Within the framework of the programme, reference plants are installed and marketed with the support of the German Energy Agency (dena). Information and training activities help ensure a sustainable market entry and demonstrate the quality of climate-friendly technologies made in Germany.

German Energy Agency (dena)

The German Energy Agency (dena) is a centre of excellence for the applied energy transition and climate protection. dena studies the challenges of building a climate-neutral society and supports the German government in achieving its energy and climate policy objectives. Since its foundation in 2000, dena has worked to develop and implement solutions and bring together national and international partners from politics, industry, the scientific community and all parts of society. dena is a project enterprise and a public company owned by the German federal government. dena’s shareholder is the Federal Republic of Germany.

The RES Uganda project supports GRIPS Energy in implementing communication, marketing and training activities in East Africa. This project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the German Energy Solutions Initiative.