Kanyegaramire Solar Mini-Grid Project

Uganda


Project Overview

  • The project is located in the West of Uganda in Kyenjojo district, only 5km from e4D’s other Ugandan installation in Kyamugarura. Both projects are currently registered as one cooperative society.
  • The project is joint funded by Energy for Development (e4D), who provided the generation costs, and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Uganda, who provided the civil work and distribution grid.

Benefits to the community

  • Up to 500 local people in the community can benefit from electrical services, with the eventual aim of creating a cluster of mini-grid projects in the local area.
  • The school, health center and 100 businesses have round-the-clock stable electricity, allowing them to provide services such as food refrigeration, lighting and phone and battery charging facilities.
  • Rechargeable battery packs are being sold by the Co-operative to individual households for lighting and other appliances.
  • The solar plant is operated and maintained by the local Co-operative (registered in accordance with Ugandan law), creating employment and providing economic revenue as well as social and humanitarian benefits to the local population.

Design Features

  • 13.5kWp solar array
  • 38.4kWh of battery storage
  • Two 5kW inverters
  • Local low voltage, AC, off-grid distribution networking serving 100 local connections
  • Solar pumping of a local borehole
  • 20ft container serves as an office for the cooperative
  • The solar plant employs a third alternative e4D design for the solar canopy, which uses 2 containers as the support for canopy in which the solar is mounted. This design can still provide rain water collection facilities as well as a vital sheltered meeting space. The benefits of this design is that the whole structure is demountable, cost effective and easy to source materials and install.

Solar Plant Local Contact Details

  • Kanyegaramire Solar Cooperative, Kanyegaramire Market, Kitega Parish, Kyenjojo District