Off Grid Energy Solutions for Rural Communities

Submitted by sokari on 10 April, 2008 - 14:38.
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Energy supplies are one of the biggest problems facing African communities and businesses.  In some countries such as Nigeria, electricity in rural areas is non-existent and only occassionaly in the urban zones.   Businesses and familes that can afford it  rely on generators - those that cannot use parafin lights or candles.   UNIDO is supporting the introduction of Energy Kiosks in Kenya.

 

An energy kiosk is an enterprise that makes money from an energy source, often renewable. Our focus has been on nurturing these kiosks around very small scale hydroelectric projects (around 1kw), biogas driven generators, solar panels and generators that use straight vegetable oil (biofuels).

Energy Kiosks can provide a good source of income for local businesses and investors as explained here... 

Suppose the energy kiosk exists in a village with 100 households. Suppose further that each house requires two lamps and there are two people in the house with mobile phones. If we introduce lamps to this community that are rechargeable, they will need to charge them once every week, and each phone needs to be charged twice a week.

Suppose we charge Kshs. 30 every time a lamp is charged and Kshs. 20 every time a phone is charged. Then we will have Kshs. 6,000 from charging lamps every week and Kshs. 8,000 from charging the mobile phones. This translates to Kshs. 56,000 per month in sales.

If the site is powered by wind, solar or hydro, the running costs are very low, hence most of the money is retained (say kshs. 30,000). For the SVO generators, the cost of the fuel needs to be factored in.

There is also a business opportunity in the provision of the lamps in the market. Typical margins are of the order of 25% at Kshs. 2,000 per piece.
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