Solar Kasolwe Cooperative

Direct:

• No diesel consumption: The switch to solar energy will allow the cooperative to run on clean energy only, eliminating the diesel consumption – a reduction of 3,800 liters a year that will avoid the emission of 10.2 tons of CO2/year.
• Better working conditions: by increasing the lighting around the plant with external safety lights, the cooperative members will have longer operation hours especially loading milk to the buyers’ trucks during late evenings. The installer will install 3 street lighting modules at the facility at no extra cost.
• Greater financial autonomy: the cooperative currently has 400 members and over 360 non-cooperative farmers termed as “out producers”, with a combined labor force of around 1520 people that will be positively affected by this project. Milk producers will get better income as a result of increased reliability in storage and supply knowing milk won’t go bad and fetching a better price with milk processors.
• More gender equality: the cooperative plans to bring on women to leadership positions and has set itself a target of the gender balance of at least 40% of the core management positions being taken up by women by 2023. 
• Job generation: It is projected that with this solar cooling project, the cooperative operation hours will be increased and so will the volume of milk which will create extra job positions. In the long term, this will spur it to micro processing of the milk to make products like yogurt which will create over 800 direct and indirect jobs at the farms, shops, and processing plant.
• Impact on the local community: with the increase in job creation, stable supply of milk, there will be a trickledown effect on the local community whether it is tackling malnutrition or education access with parents now better equipped to pay for school fees.
• Reduction of the milk waste: Estimates point to 10% of all milk production in Kasolwe being wasted due to lack of timely cooling. Solar coolers are reliable and can provide consistent cold storage for areas with no or unreliable energy access, offering significant impact potential on reduction of the milk waste to minimal levels.

An estimated 37% of Uganda’s population lives under the poverty threshold of US$1.90 a day. Nevertheless, it is the largest refugee-hosting country in Africa. This project will improve the living conditions of the population served by the cooperative.

Fundada em 2017, a SolarPipo BV é uma empresa holding Holandesa, com sede em Amsterdão. Os seus acionistas são Ugandeses e duas empresas holandesas - Rockstart BV e Beehaeve. A empresa criou a subsidiária SolarPipo Finance BV que detém a totalidade da SolarPipo Finance Limited no Uganda para gerir os recursos financeiros do grupo. A SolarPipo Finance Limited é responsável por contratar diretamente com as cooperativas leiteiras.

O principal objetivo do grupo é facilitar o acesso a energias renováveis ao setor dos laticínios no país. Para o fazer, a empresa fornece alternativas de energia limpa a geradores de gasóleo que são fiáveis e eficientes em termos de custos aos seus clientes, tipicamente cooperativas leiteiras e agricultores. Os seus serviços respondem a toda a cadeia de valor: do financiamento, ao desenho e instalação das centrais de energia solar, à assistência técnica e manutenção dos equipamentos instalados.

A equipa conhece os desafios de levar energia limpa e eficiente a pequenas e médias empresas em África e estão comprometidos com a resolução destes desafios.

Os acionistas holandeses, que detêm a maioria das ações da SolarPipo Finance BV, têm uma experiência combinada de 60 anos na empresa Rockstart, tendo um vasto conhecimento em smart energy, ventures e start-ups.

As cooperativas de produtores de leite são um sector empresarial crescente e importante (10% da economia) assim como a indústria de processamento de leite e o transporte do leite arrefecido desde os agricultores até aos processadores. Normalmente, os arrefecedores de leite recorrem a geradores a gasóleo que consomem quantidades consideráveis de combustível. A SolarPipo identificou uma lista de 7 produtores de leite que pretendem com urgência deixar de utilizar geradores a gasóleo. Além disso, existem pelo menos 100 cooperativas na lista de potenciais clientes, para além de outros intervenientes na cadeia de valor do sector leiteiro.