Pfenninger.org

The past three weeks we've been travelling in the southern part of Kagera region, in Ngara and Biharamulo districts, about 200km from the CHEMA headquarters. We visited numerous institutions to get data on their energy and water needs -- and how they could be met with sustainable means. Most people use wood (in rural areas) or charcoal (in more urban areas) for cooking. Even large-scale cooking is done with wood. At Rulenge Secondary School, one of the top 10 secondary schools in the country (according to them), food for about 700 students and staff members is cooked with firewood.

Several of these huge stoves are used to cook in the canteen.

The fuelwood is kept just outside the kitchen. Three 7-ton trucks full of firewood are consumed each week.

Further east, in Biharamulo, a more than 80 years old French priest has been setting up photovoltaic systems for almost 30 years. He has erected installations all across the region, even in neighboring countries. Because in the beginning, people kept stealing the panels, he is now mounting the panels like sails on big pipes. An additional benefit of this solution is that the angle of the panels can be adjusted several times daily to make the most out of the available sunlight.

The picture shows Katoke Seminary, a secondary school run by the Catholic church, powered by solar energy (no grid electricity):

• 40x50W panels
• 12x100W
• 24 batteries with 800Ah total capacity
• 2.2 kW inverter

Biharamulo District Hospital has an even bigger system:

• 120x100W panels
• 16x165W panels
• 3000Ah total battery capacity
• 3-phase inverter system, 3x3.5 kW

However, they are also hooked up the the local electric grid. Biharamulo has its own power plant, or rather power station.

It looks not very impressive from the outside.

On the inside, two 450kW generators provide electricity from diesel fuel. It's not the most efficient way to generate electricity but still better than the tiny generators a lot of people use where there is no grid. The power we use at CHEMA HQ comes from the Ugandan grid and is generated in coal power plants. It's quite reliable and blackouts usually last less than an hour.