Solar Powered Irrigation in Mozambique : Market Landscape
Introduction
This article is part of the publication on Solar irrigation market analysis in Mozambique which looks at the feasibility of introducing individual solar-powered irrigation packages at small scale enterprise level in Mozambique.
Private Sector Inventory
Manufacturers and Available Brands
The following table shows an overview of the available solar pump brands in Mozambique in January 2021. The pumps available on a distributor basis are featured by an annual sales volume of at least 100 pumps, for three years in a row. Retail volumes range from 2 to 25 pumps sold per year. Five manufacturers have confirmed that their pumps are not on the market in Mozambique yet. Two others companies, Sunculture and Dayliff are interested to enter in the future.
Table 2 Availability of solar pump brands in Mozambique
| Available brands | Brands not available in Mozambique | Brands of which the presence is unknown |
| Lorentz – Retail | Ningbo | Difful |
| Grundfos – Distributor | Sunculture (but interested) | Xinya |
| Solartech - Distributor | Dayliff (but interested) | Mono |
| Futurepump –Distributor | Pumpmakers | Ennos Sunlight |
| Taifu – Retail | Spowdi | |
| Cedar Solar – Retail | ||
| Feili – Retail | ||
| Samking - Retail | ||
| Shakti - Retail | ||
| Jain - Retail |
As for irrigation equipment, at least four brands of drip systems are available in Mozambique: Shakti, Agriplas, Drip Tech India, and Netafim, as well as one brand of spray tubes: San Fu.
Solar Irrigation Suppliers in Mozambique
The distribution strategy varies amongst different manufacturers, some choosing for one exclusive national distributor per country, while others sell pumps to any company that is interested to sell their brand. Grundfos makes use of their authorized distribution partner and authorized service partner (Blue Zone), while Lorentz uses their standard distribution classification: in Mozambique they have one Distribution Partner (DP) and one Sales and Service Partner (SSP)[1]. Most solar pump suppliers in Mozambique sell at least two different brands, except for ProCampo that only sells Cedar Solar. There are also solar pump brands that have been introduced during projects, but that are not available for sales within Mozambique: Vida and Pumpmakers.
The following data are based on the results of the online survey responses from 10 solar pump and irrigation system suppliers in Mozambique. Amongst these respondents, most classify themselves as a national distributor (40%). As for the type of service provided, 90% of the respondents supply and install technologies. Design and engineering of the systems is only done by 30% of the respondents.
Table 3 Private sector respondents
| Category of the private sector respondents | ||
| Manufacturer | 0 | 0% |
| National distributor | 4 | 40% |
| Retailer | 1 | 10% |
| Agent | 2 | 20% |
| Engineering services | 2 | 20% |
| Agrodealer | 1 | 10% |
| Total | 10 | 100% |
From the interviewed suppliers, 90% sells solar powered pumps. The remaining company was included in the survey because they will start selling solar pumps within the upcoming year. Overall, 60% of the companies provide both solar pumps and irrigation equipment.
Specifications of Available Technologies
Pump Types and Water Sources
Only one of the suppliers responded that its bestselling model is a suction pump. Suction pumps are most effective for surface water or groundwater up to maximum 7 meters’ depth. The pump type is directly related to the water source, as is shown in the diagram below. The company selling suction pumps is the only one that considers shallow boreholes, hand-dug wells and lakes as one of the main water sources used. Interestingly, the majority of the solar pumps is currently used in deep boreholes (63%), followed by rivers (50%).
Pump Models, Capacity and Prices
The following table shows the overview of the technical specifications and prices of the bestselling solar pump models in Mozambique. Most suppliers have more models available with different technical characteristics and prices. If a box is empty it means the number is unknown.
Table 4 Specifications of solar pumps available in Mozambique
| Specifications of solar pumps in Mozambique | |||||||
| Supplier in Mozambique | Brand | Model | Price in Meticais | Total Watt-age | Rated flow (m3/h) | Head at rated flow (m) | Max head (m) |
| Metaluz Lda | Taifu (Jiadi and Pumpman) | 4SWN205-0.8N | 32,760 | 1280 | 2.2 | 57 | 70 |
| Sun Power Engineering | Solartech | SPM600H | 20,000 | 270 | 10 | 190 | |
| Procampo Limitada | Cedar Solar | CEVA 100 | 870,000 | 9750 | 24 | 40 | 60 |
| 5.5-12 kW | |||||||
| Water Irrigation Solutions Moz, Lda | Futurepump | SF2 | 77,500 | 120 | 2 | 3-6 | 8 |
| SF1 | 50,778 | 80 | |||||
| SE1 | 60 or 120 | 1 | 3-6 | ||||
| Blue Zone Mozambique Lda | Grundfos | SQF 2.5-2 | 140,000 | 1200 | 2,5 | 100 | 120 |
| Large range available, mainly SQF & CRF | SQF: 250 | ||||||
| Soelec | Lorentz | PS2-100 | 80,000 | 327 | 2 | 40 | 50 |
| Mudumene Trading | Lorentz | Hr700 | 390,000 | 800 | 5 | 120 | 140 |
| Hr200, Hr14, Hr7 | |||||||
| Solar Works | Futurepump | SE1 | 60 or 120 | 1 | 3-6 | ||
| SF2 | 120 | 2 | 3-6 | 8 | |||
| F&L Lda | Feili | FLD, FLA | 210,000 | 60 | 100 | ||
Great care should be taken when comparing the prices of different pumps, since there are a lot of variables to take into account. It is recommended to determine the required daily yield (m3/day) and dynamic head (m) before making any inquiries about suitable pumps and prices. Practica is developing the Solar Irrigation Pump Selector mobile phone app to help technicians, farmers and sales agents to make this calculation and compare the feasibility of different pumps types for a given farm situation. There are also apps launched by particular brands for sizing, calculating and finding spare parts, such as the Grundfos GO solar app.
Another important aspect to take into account are the components that are included in the price. In fact, the number of components included showed the highest correlation with the price (co-efficient of +0.74). This is a much stronger relation than the price and capacity (nominal flow) which only showed a correlation co-efficient of +0.27. The following table shows the components that are included in the different solar pump prices that were mentioned. It also shows that all solar pumps are provided with a warranty of on average 1.5 years. Generally, such warranties only apply to factory defects, and do not cover broken solar panels or damage from other accidents.
Table 5 Components included in solar pump prices
| Components included in the indicated solar pump prices.
Empty boxes mean the component is not included in the indicated price. | ||||||||
| Pump | Price in Meticais | Solar panels | Panel frame | Hose | Electrical cables | Installation | Transport | Warranty |
| Taifu | 32,760 | No | Yes | 0.5 year | ||||
| Solartech | 20,000 | Yes | 3 years | |||||
| Cedar Solar | 870,000 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 year | |
| Futurepump | 77,500 | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 year | |||
| Grundfos | 140,000 | Yes | 1 year | |||||
| Lorentz | 80,000 | Yes | 1 year | |||||
| Lorentz | 390,000 | Yes | 3 years | |||||
| Feili | 210,000 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | unknown | ||
| Percentage | 50% | 25% | 13% | 75% | 25% | 25% | 100% | |
Irrigation equipment
The following figures show the characteristics of irrigation equipment provided by solar pump suppliers. The remaining respondents do not provide irrigation equipment with their pumps.
Table 6 (Solar) irrigation equipment available in Mozambique
| (Solar) Irrigation equipment available in Mozambique | ||||||
| Supplier | Type | Brand | Surface unit | Price in meticais | Price in EUR[1] | Price per ha in EUR |
| SunPower Engineering | Drip | Shakti | Estimated at 500 m2 | 25,000 | 342 | (6840)[2] |
| Procampo Limitada | Drip | Agriplas | 1 ha | 350,000 | 4795 | 4795 |
| Water and Irrigation Solutions | Drip | Drip Tech India | 500 m2 | 20,000 | 274 | 5479 |
| F&L Lda | Drip | Netafim | 500 m2 | 16,000 | 219 | 4384 |
| Mudumene Trading | Spray tubes | San Fu | 250 m2 | 20 | 0.27 | 11[3] |
The table shows that the cost of a drip system does not vary more than 25% from the average once converted into costs per hectare. The average price of 4886 €/ha for a drip system is similar as the cost of drip systems in Benin (4444€/ha), and about 46% higher than the cost of a drip kit in Senegal (3346€/ha). The cost of spray tubes by Mudumene Trading in Chimoio is subsidized and therefore not representative. However, without subsidies the cost per hectare of spray tubes is still significantly lower than the cost of drip systems.
Like for the solar pumps, the components that are included in the provided unit prices for irrigation systems vary considerably.
Table 7 Components included in irrigation system prices
| Components included in the indicated irrigation system prices | |||||||
| Brand | Tubes | Connections | Spare parts | Installation | Transport | Warranty | Estimated lifespan |
| Shakti | Yes | Yes | 3 years | 10 years | |||
| Agriplas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 year | >5 years | |
| Drip Tech India | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | 2 years | |
| Netafim | Yes | Yes | Yes | 1 year | 2 years | ||
| San Fu | Yes | 3 years | 15 years | ||||
| Percentage | 60% | 80% | 20% | 40% | 40% | 80% | |
Except for Drip Tech India, all systems come with a 1 or 3 years’ warranty. The suppliers offering a three years’ warranty also indicate that the lifespan of their systems is very high: 10 to 15 years.
Reference
This article is part of the publication written by Berry van den Pol.
[1] A EUR/MZN rate of 1/73 was used in this report, following the official exchange rate on www1.oanda.com at 28/05/21.
[2] Since the surface unit was not indicated, the common unit size of 500 m2 per drip system was assumed here. In this report, any values between brackets have been estimated by extrapolation.
[3] This price was subsidized by an NGO. The common cost for spray tubes is between 250 and 2100 EUR/ha depending on the supplier and materials used for installation.
[1] Distribution Partners stock products, provide local support and training to local sales and service partners. Sales and Service Partners provide sales, installation and support to end customers.
