Energy, drinking water and mobility concepts for The Gambia

In The Gambia, Africa’s smallest country, fishing is the main source of income for many families living along the Gambia River and on the coast. Due to a lack of electricity in remote rural areas, their catch cannot be refrigerated or frozen, which means that many fish spoil.

The Powerhouse helps: electricity and purified water enable the operation of refrigerators and ice machines. This significantly increases the profitability and competitiveness of the local fishing companies. As a result, the price of local fish can be reduced, people can afford fish as a food source and benefit from safe food.

In addition, there are currently intensive efforts in the transportation sector to promote e-mobility in The Gambia, especially for e-tuk-tuks, but also for e-outboard motors that power fishing and tourist boats on the Gambia River. The VoltaViewAfrica Powerhouse facility will then be used as a regenerative charging and/or exchange station for interchangeable VoltaMove2Go battery packs to power the e-tuk-tuks and e-fishing and tourist boats.

In 2023, three Powerhouse systems were installed as a reference/pilot project in The Gambia, supported by the RES program. This will address the following fields of application:

  1. Training and further education in cooperation with the University of Applied Science, Engineering and Technology (USET) in Serekunda
  2. Decentralized energy and drinking water supply for remote rural regions (e.g. fishing villages)
  3. Solar-powered laundromat in Kiti

Due to its geographical compactness, The Gambia offers perfect conditions for demonstrating these new technologies and for an initial market launch.

This project receives generous support from Aktion 99 Pfennig e.V.

e-tuktuk

Voltamove eTukTuk

Technical Data

Basic equipment

  • weight 350 kg (including battery)
  • load capacity 500 kg
  • power 1.5 kW, 40-60V
  • swappable battery cases, 4.8 kWh
  • speed max. 50 kmh
  • driving range 120-150 km

Optional

  • solar roof 300 Wp
  • charging the battery by solar power during driving and parking
  • extended driving range up to 200 km

Press

Clean energy and clean drinking water for The Gambia

What The Gambia has to offer in abundance is sunshine. This precious energy from the sun can be harvested, converted into electricity, and then stored in a powerhouse. That is what VoltaViewAfrica.org is doing in The Gambia: implementing regenerative energy technologies developed in Germany by the renowned research institution Fraunhofer HHI, manufacturing powerhouse plants by their start-up companie VoltaMove GmbH, and finally installing them in The Gambia.

Read More

Goslar start-up supplies Gambia with sustainable electricity

A segment from German television about us in the TV show: “Hallo Niedersachsen”. Car batteries act as electric drives for fishing boats. However, they can also function as storage modules for solar energy.

Read More

This Project is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action as part of the Renewable Energy Solutions Programme of the German Energy Solutions Initiative.

German Energy Solutions Initiative
Renewable Energy Solutions Programme (RES Programme)
German Energy Agency (dena)

With the aim of positioning German technologies and know-how worldwide, the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action (BMWK) supports suppliers of climate-friendly energy solutions in opening up foreign markets. The focus lies on renewable energies, energy efficiency, smart grids and storage, as well as technologies such as power-to-gas and fuel cells. Aimed in particular at small and medium-sized enterprises, the German Energy Solutions Initiative supports participants through measures to prepare market entry as well as to prospect, develop and secure new markets. www.german-energy-solutions.de/en

With the RES programme, the Energy Export Initiative of the Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action (BMWK) helps German companies in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors enter new markets. Within the framework of the programme, reference plants are installed and marketed with the support of the German Energy Agency (dena). Information and training activities help ensure a sustainable market entry and demonstrate the quality of climate-friendly technologies made in Germany. www.german-energy-solutions.de/res-programm.html

The German Energy Agency (dena) is a centre of excellence for the applied energy transition and climate protection. dena studies the challenges of building a climate-neutral society and supports the German government in achieving its energy and climate policy objectives. Since its founding in 2000, dena has worked to develop and implement solutions and bring together national and international partners from politics, industry, the scientific community and all parts of society. dena is a project enterprise and a public company owned by the German federal government. dena’s shareholders are the Federal Republic of Germany and the KfW Group. www.dena.de/en

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