When travelling to Rwanda, the ambitious environmental policies of this East African nation will certainly take you by surprise. Plastic bags are forbidden – waste recycling is mandatory by law. The past 20 years, the country has seen enormous overall development and is currently an attractive market in East Africa. However, it was not possible to expand the electricity grid in line with economic growth and the expansion of the Rwandan population. Many areas only have access to a very unstable supply of electricity or are not connected to the grid at all. Manufacturing companies and other facilities therefore rely on their own diesel generators to generate additional power, even though diesel is expensive and takes a long time to transport.

Flexible concept for more sustainability

As part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency –, a German consortium of companies has now shown how factories in Rwanda can reduce the ecological footprint of their energy consumption: OneShore Energy has installed a PV-diesel hybrid system at the production site of one of the country‘s leading tea manufacturers, Sorwathe Ltd. in Kinihira. This consists of a solar installation, which was integrated in the site‘s existing energy supply network, consisting of a mains supply and several diesel generators. The components for this reference project were supplied by BayWa r.e. GmbH, a partner of the consortium. The installation allows Sorwathe to significantly reduce its diesel and mains power consumption, thereby setting an example for clean energy use. Based on load measurements and detailed calculations, OneShore was able to use its simulation software to determine the optimum dimensions of the PV installation in advance and predict the potential savings with great accuracy.

German innovations in the spotlight

With a large-scale inauguration ceremony on the grounds of the tea factory in the presence of the Rwandan Minister of Agriculture, a customer information event in Rwanda‘s capital Kigali and dedicated networking as the cornerstones of its marketing concept, this pilot project has already given rise to several subsequent orders. Sorwathe, too, is already considering expanding the new installation.

About the German project partners

The Berlin based company OneShore Energy GmbH is a global market leader in the conceptualisation of PV diesel hybrid systems. OneShore‘s profound knowledge of diesel generators and extensive experience with the planning and realisation of PV plants are the basis for the development of hybrid systems customised to the clients‘ needs. OneShore‘s software solution digitalizes the whole process from the load measurement, the conceptualisation of the system to the operation of the system. The OneShore approach reduces project planning and investment costs.

BayWa r.e. renewable energy GmbH draws together the Group‘s activities in the fields of solar energy, wind power, bioenergy and geothermal energy. The company acts as a full service partner in this market where it develops, realises, consults and supports BayWa r.e. projects in the renewable energies sector. Further business activities include operation and maintenance, trading in PV components, as well as the purchase and sale of energy from renewable sources.