Microgrid powers progress in Uganda
Entusi Resort and Retreat Center in Kabale, Uganda, is a model of sustainability and a beacon of light to the local community — both literally and figuratively.
The eco-retreat center hosts guests from around the world at a curated rustic lodge on Lake Bunyonyi. The center opened in 2013 when Global Livingston Institute, based in Denver, was looking for a “poor man’s Aspen Institute” and a space to think deeply about complex social issues. It has been the site of women’s leadership retreats, youth summits, mental health training conferences, TEDx talks, HIV awareness music festivals, and community celebrations, to name a few.
The facility combines global outreach with support for the local community. It was built on the edge of one of the deepest lakes in Africa by more than 150 Ugandans, and employs workers from the surrounding lakeside communities. It has now improved its commitment to the local environment as well.
When it opened, the center was powering its beautiful eco-lodge with a loud, dirty diesel generator that was polluting the air. The noise of the generator was not only disruptive to local wildlife, but the sound often carried across the lake to otherwise quiet residences.
Looking for a solution that was more in line with its mission and values, the center turned to Xpower, the resident enterprise partner of the Colorado State University Energy Institute. MeshPower, a subsidiary of Xpower, is one of the largest providers of microgrids in Rwanda and uses solar power and batteries to provide reliable, clean electricity to remote villages and businesses.
“Before we got the solar we were running a diesel generator that consumed about 80 liters of diesel a week,” said Raymond Bokua, manager at Entusi Resort and Retreat Center. “It was so much emission of diesel into the environment that it was actually spoiling our environment and it was very very noisy. It was efficient for us, but it wasn’t the right kind of system and it wasn’t reliable.”
The solution was a system that could deliver both AC — alternating current — and DC — direct current — to meet the varied needs of the resort.
“When I looked at the electric system for the retreat center, I realized this was the type of system we wanted to implement for the villages,” said Dan Zimmerle, a senior research associate at the CSU Energy Institute and advisor to Xpower. “There were some core loads that required quite a bit of AC power like refrigerators, and then there are many small loads that only required DC power like lights and cell phone charging. So what we realized was that we could work with the retreat center and make a prototype of how we wanted to do villages of the future.”
The project quickly became an important proving ground for Xpower’s unique concept of a hybrid AC/DC system. The company installed solar cells on the retreat center’s row of cabins, leaving the diesel for a backup generator.
“We have not had to use the generator ever again; we are actually afraid our generator will die and not work,” said Bokua. “We have completely cut off the cost of diesel, and we have a 24-hour power supply and are not emitting any bad gasses. It is the perfect way to supply power to us.”
Now, the sounds of kingfishers, otters and sunbirds carry across the lake instead of the hum of a diesel generator. At night, a series of LED lights radiate a faint, quiet and clean glow that can be seen from across the lake or by passing vessels. The center is now truly the beacon of light the founder- envisioned it becoming.
