Powering Agriculture with Renewable Energy

Overview

Project	Powering Agriculture with Renewable Energy
Collaborators	African Solar Designs (Kenya) Windfire Group (United Kingdom
Location Applied	Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
Website	Ariya Capital Group Limited

Agriculture is a cornerstone of Kenya’s economy, with horticulture and the export of flowers serving as a major employer. Energy is an important part of modern Kenyan agriculture, accounting for 15 percent of input costs. A lack of stable and available energy sources is an issue, which leads farmers to rely on expensive, polluting diesel generators as a backup source. 

Clean Energy Solution

Ariya’s project will provide end to end cost-effective, low-risk renewable energy generation and energy efficiency services to local flower and horticulture farms in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. These services will be structured to minimize the up-front investment required by farmers. A mixed technology approach, using various DRE and energy efficiency solutions, will allow flexibility in designing energy systems tailored for each user.

Impact

Wind Turbine Model © Ariya

The project will provide flower farms and horticulture groups with dependable, cost effective, green energy solutions, which ultimately impact their bottom line. Increased reliability of power will allow farmers to use more sophisticated techniques, such as hydroponics and aeroponics, which lead to improved productivity and reduced water usage. Beneficial impacts will include reduced carbon emissions thus allowing East African horticulture exporters to retain their competitive edge by neutralizing the carbon cost of flying their produce to European markets, on-demand power production, potential return of surplus power to the grid, and job creation.

Organization

Ariya Capital Group (Ariya) is an experienced fund manager that develops, structures, invests, and manages clean energy and infrastructure projects throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Ariya has partnered with African Solar Designs (ASD), a Kenya-based renewable and rural energy company, and Windfire, a UK-based renewable energy company that provides medium-scale Vertical Axis Wind Turbine solutions for the Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE) sector.

Further Information

• Website Powering Agriculture Homepage, Winners 2015
  
• Powering Agriculture: An Energy Grand Challenge for Development
  
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References