ENTRADE and Pamoja are set to provide clean energy in East Africa through the construction of 100 micro-grids. ENTRADE’s technology, operated by Pamoja, will provide carbon neutral energy as well as access to clean cooking fuel to rural communities in East Africa.
Pamoja Cleantech has been among the leaders in implementing decentralized micro-grid power systems in East Africa funded and supported, among others, by World Bank, as well as UNs Business Call to Action and the Nordic Climate Fund through a partnership with Norges Vel.
Pamoja is part of a 10,000 hour testing of micro-power units that, for the first time, turn regionally available waste into clean, carbon-neutral energy that can power a micro-grid 24/7 with minimum maintenance. After the overwhelming success of the first two micro-grids, the project which is supported by the Ugandan National Council for Science and Technology and the Ugandan Industrial Research Institute and Rural Electrification Agency will expand to 100 villages by the end of 2017.
The project uses ENTRADE’s E3 bio-waste to power generator which is designed to replace diesel used in diesel-generators with carbon-neutral regional energy sources such as wood waste and nutshells as well as plastic bottles. The development has partially been funded by the German Ministry of Technology as well as the Austrian Agency at FFG. Through large scale production, ENTRADE has been able to reduce system prices to an amount that makes the E3 system the perfect backbone of a micro-grid even in harsh environments.
By the year 2020, the climate impact of the project will be 150,000 tons of CO2 through replacing diesel generators with a clean-energy alternative while avoiding methane emissions due to the decay of raw biomass. It will promote growth in 100 communities that currently have no reliable access to electricity as well as avoid hundreds of pre-mature deaths, especially women and children, by providing clean cooking fuel based on ENTRADE’s E-Fuel.
The business model is an integrated system for generating power from waste materials to create socially and economically thriving communities and sustainable development. ENTRADE’s machinery, operated by the Pamoja engineering team, provides electricity and cooling as well as clean cooking fuels.
This lays the ground work for a circular economy of growing biomass, which mixed with regionally available waste, becomes a clean fuel for power generation and cooking. The ash produced in the process has a high carbon content is used as biochar which improves the soil for crop production. This range of community services provides enormous benefits including low income consumers, especially for women. Pamoja operates agro-processing sites that upgrade agricultural products through processes such as drying, creating better returns and less waste for small scale farming operations.
“The E3 is a great example of leapfrogging technologies that enables system change in entire communities. This innovation will completely change the way we think of waste to energy," Julien Uhlig, CEO ENTRADE AG said.
"ENTRADE’s technology will bring 24/7 base-load power to the people of Uganda, establishing a micro-grid that solar can be a part of when available. We are very impressed with the impact this technology will have for the people in Africa," said Peik Stenlund, Direcor Pamoja Cleantech AB.