Spark Renewables: Making Clean Energy a Reality in Remote Off-grid Areas

Innovator Type	Water-Energy-Food	Country of Incorporation	Egypt
Financing Goals	Seeking debt (commercial or DFI)	Country(ies) of Implementation	Egypt
Gender Breakdown	20%	Website	https://www.sr-eg.com
Contact Name	Ahmed Mofeed	Contact Email	ahmed.mofeed@sr-eg.com

CHALLENGE

Egypt has one of the highest population densities in the region and in the world. The country also currently has a negative trade balance and, with most of the people living on the banks of the Nile River, there is untapped potential in the agricultural and industrial sectors to leverage undeveloped areas across the country for economic growth.

Farmers in Egypt face a plethora of challenges when trying to access energy sources, including high diesel prices, instability of diesel availability in remote areas, and an increase of grid electricity prices. Also, farmers in remote areas struggle to access water for irrigation.

SOLUTION

The main driver that led to the establishment of Spark Renewables was unlocking solar energy’s great potential by overcoming its main barriers, increasing energy prices and unavailability of stable and sustainable energy sources, especially in remote areas.

Solar PV energy for pumping grid-tied or hybrid PV-diesel applications solves challenges around energy unavailability and increasing prices while improving access to water, which is a key factor in land reclamation in deserted remote areas. Of the many merits of Solar PV, some of the most critical for farmers are: low operating expenses, minimal operational and maintenance overheads, high reliability, easy and quick installation process, and automatic and remote control. The minimal operational overheads and remote control directly enables female farmers to much more easily operate their farm’s or facilities’ energy sources as opposed to the heavy maintenance diesel generators along with the fuel transportation hassle aside.