Below is a list of Common Questions about Energy Kiosks
What is an energy kiosk?
An energy kiosk is an enterprise that makes money from an energy source, often renewable. Our focus has been on nurturing these kiosks around very small scale hydroelectric projects (around 1kw), biogas driven generators, solar panels and generators that use straight vegetable oil (biofuels).
What money can one really make from a 1KW machine? is it worthwhile?
First of all, energy that would otherwise not be available is worth much more than energy that is readily available. Thus the urbanite in Nairobi would say Kshs. 8 per kilowatt-hour is fair while the rural person 50km away from mains electricity would find Kshs. 20 per KwHr a fair bargain.
Granted that 1KW is not enough to distribute to a community in a microgrid, of what use is it?
The challenge we pose to our entrepreneurs is to find innovative ways to make money from however little energy they can obtain. There several applications of energy that do not require megawatts of elecricity to work e.g.
Lighting: Granted that lighting is a significant expense for most households, this is a natural place to start from.
Mobile Phones: Most rural people spend between Kshs. 20 – Kshs. 100 every week on charging their mobile phones
ICT: ICT equipment typically require small amounts of power
How do i start my own energy kiosk?
the first task is to identify the community that will benefit from your services. You need to understand what they want as far as energy is concerned. Note that what they want corresponds with what they will be willing to buy from you. Establish contacts with them to make it easier when you roll out your project.
Identify the various sources of power that are available to you. Some of the sources you need to consider include:
Vegetable oil generators
Biogas
Hydro
Solar
Wind
when you consider these sources vis-a-vis the site where you want to run the energy kiosk, you should be able to obtain an estimate of the energy that you can obtain at the site.
From the amount of energy that shall be available to you, determine the applications of the energy that your customers want. Some of the applications include:
charging phones, rechargeable lamps and batteries
ICT services (email, internet, secretarial and training)
Value addition (cooling, drying, processing and packaging primary produce)
Roll out the energy Kiosk. Source all the items that you require and build the energy kiosk. As shown below, an energy kiosk can be very profitable – hence do not be limited by the fact that you have to spend money to obtain the energy source.
What kind of money can an energy kiosk make?
Suppose the energy kiosk exists in a village with 100 households. Suppose further that each house requires two lamps and there are two people in the house with mobile phones. If we introduce lamps to this community that are rechargeable, they will need to charge them once every week, and each phone needs to be charged twice a week.
Suppose we charge Kshs. 30 every time a lamp is charged and Kshs. 20 every time a phone is charged. Then we will have Kshs. 6,000 from charging lamps every week and Kshs. 8,000 from charging the mobile phones. This translates to Kshs. 56,000 per month in sales.
If the site is powered by wind, solar or hydro, the running costs are very low, hence most of the money is retained (say kshs. 30,000). For the SVO generators, the cost of the fuel needs to be factored in.
There is also a business opportunity in the provision of the lamps in the market. Typical margins are of the order of 25% at Kshs. 2,000 per piece.
What is the value proposition for the customer?
The biggest problems in rural communities are usually lack of basic infrastructure: water, roads and energy. An energy kiosk addresses the energy needs of remote individuals and communities. Consider paraffin(kerosene). it costs Kshs. 67 per litre and a family with 2 lamps needs atleast 8 litres each month (i.e. Kshs. 500). The rechargeable lamps will cost Kshs. 240 to charge for the whole month.
Energy enables people to use modern gadgets, especially communication equipment – thus demand is fairly high in rural places.
What if i get stuck? where do i get technical assistance?
Some of the organizations where from you can get help include:
Ministry of Energy
UNIDO
Try me – kiptum@openvestor.com – i might just be in a position to help.
Why emphasize energy kiosks? why not community projects?
Sustainability. In the long run, the profit motive will not only inspire the continuity of the project – but also will provide an incentive for the ener-preneur to adapt the energy to the needs of the people in the community over time.
How long does it take to establish an energy kiosk?
Depending on the energy source, it might take anything between 3 days and 1 month to install the power source and transmit power to the kiosk. Once the kiosk has been set up, you can start charging mobile phones immediately. You must also introduce the lamps to the community so that they can bring you an income from charging them.
Where do I get the lamps?
You can get rechargeable lamps from supermarkets and renewable energy shops. You can contact the following enterprises for a lamp:
Green Planet Kenya Ltd
Nakumatt, Tuskys & Uchumi Supermarkets
Eveready Kenya Ltd
Openvestor Kenya Ltd
How much does the energy cost?
The cost of the kiosk depends on the source of power and the amount of power involved. The type of structure and the applications you have are also factors to consider. Below is a rough guide of the costs in USD:
Biogas (12 KVA) 10,000
SVO (5 KVA) 10,000
SVO (10 KVA) 10,000
Wind (1KW) 2,000
Hydro (1KW) 10,000
Hydro (10 KW) 30,000
Hydro (10 KW) 60,000
What renewable energy sources can one use?
The current UNIDO project works with 3 main renewable energy projects:
Biogas: Do you have any organic waste e.g. slaughterhouse waste, tannery waste, banana stems?
Straight Vegetable Oil: Uses a combination of 20% diesel and 80% vegetable oil to produce electricity
Micro and pico hydropower: do you live near a waterfall with continuously running water throughout the year?
Wind: Do you live in an open windy area?
What applications can one use for the energy
Depending on the amount of power available to you, you may use an energy kiosk to power the following services to your customers
Lighting
Battery Charging: car batteries, rechargeable lamps, rechargeable gadgets and mobile phones
ICT services – email, internet and computer training
Steel fabrication
Sewing
woodwork
How long does it take to make a return?
What maintenance is required? What running costs?
This depends on the energy source. Most of the maintenance required is simple and routine. UNIDO encourages the uses of equipment that can be maintained by local technicians inorder to reduce the cost of ownership of the technology.
What is the ownership structure?
Who finances the energy kiosk?
UNIDO is conducting a few pilot energy kiosks. For these kiosks, UNIDO contributes the generators / turbines as well as technical expertise while the community caters for the construction of the kiosk, the charging systems. The beneficiaries also have to buy their own lamps.
For the other projects, we will encourage the community to form an organization that can approach a financial institution to finance the project. We expect that the energy kiosk will pay back on the investment in a reasonable time
What is the role of UNIDO on this?
UNIDO is contributing generators / turbines for pilot projects as well as technical expertise.
Can I do my own project?
Ofcourse! We would love to hear how it goes and how we can work together to light up Kenya and bring production within the reach of most people.
What projects have you done so far?
UNIDO has already installed equipment at four sites: Kagwanja and Kamahuha in Muranga district, Kiangombe near Kerugoya in Kirinyaga and Ikinu in Kiambu. UNIDO is also installing equipment at Buret, near Kericho, South Mugirango in Gucha District, Siaya and in Bungoma. Feasibility studies are also being conducted for other parts of the country.
How much power can I get from a Kiosk?
It depends on the power source but usually ranges between 1KW and 10 KW.
What can I do with 1 KW? 10KW?
1KW can be used for lighting and charging business. However, it cannot be used for production purposes.
In addition to the above applications, a 10 KW is enough to for distribution to the community through a microgrid, or to power light production equipment.
Do you distribute the electricity?
We are very excited to do isolated microgrids especially for the units that have atleast 10KW. We already have plans for 2 such projects.
Where can I get the charging system from?
You can ask a technician at a local workshop to fabricate one for you. You can also contact the following people for systems:
Washington Ochieng
Ahmed Sayyid
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