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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EmPower (EmPowering electricity access in off-grid areas with a portable battery pack with Internet of Things connectivity)

Teaser

Peoples Portable PowerDuring the last year the company has developed an innovative Internet-Of-Things energy solution for families living without public power supply.The ChallengeThe rural population in Africa spend 4 USD every week on kerosene for oil lamps, disposable...

Summary

Peoples Portable Power
During the last year the company has developed an innovative Internet-Of-Things energy solution for families living without public power supply.

The Challenge
The rural population in Africa spend 4 USD every week on kerosene for oil lamps, disposable batteries and mobile charging. This puts a strain on families economy, education, health and surrounding environment and it maintains the population in poverty.

The Solution
Our solution is a portable, rechargeable, on-line enabled battery pack, capable of storing power from village Solar PV installations for one family\'s weekly consumption. Payment for the solution, is based on a leasing model (Pay-As-You-Go) where the family through local mobile pay solutions pay 3 USD a week. In case of defaulting or if the battery is stolen, the battery shuts down and can not be used any more.

Validated Business Model
We have finalized our development, tests and validation in Kenya and Tanzania with support from the EU SME Instrument and have established agreements with local and EU companies, who already have more than 200 Solar PV installations set up in rural villages. In cooperation, we have started distribution and sales of 100O battery solutions through our own sales companies and channels. We thus expect to be able to sell 20,000 units from 2023.

Work performed

(1) Refine the list of local partners and intensify the most reliable partnerships, including microfinancing partners
(2) Through interviews (5-10), define the incentive programme for each stakeholder

A MoU was established with the recycling partner WEEE Centre (Kenya), CXPower Ltd (Kenya), PG Consulting (Tanzania) and Kakute Projects (Tanzania).
Key partners within the microfinancing and stakeholders’ groups were identified.
Partnering was done with WEEE Centre to handle correct disposal or recycling of e-waste. CX Power Ltd. has helped us with market analysis in Kenya, providing us with insight knowledge. PG Consulting has done market research in Tanzania and helped developing marketing strategies for the Tanzanian market. Kakute Project has identified possible partners and helped planning our sales strategy.

(3) Analyse the certification requirements and pathway

The requirements for Lighting Global certification were identified. The first contacts were initiated to define the certification house and obtain quotations.

(4) Analyse market in Kenya and Tanzania as well as in other relevant markets (e.g., Uganda and Rwanda)
(5) Competitors
(6) Supply chain
(7) Need and willingness to pay

We have identified Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda in Sub-Saharan Africa and India and Bangladesh as the most attractive geographical segments to enter with our solution.
By investigating competitors in the market and continuously conducting interviews with end users, our conclusion is that with our product we are strongly represented in the market for these types of solutions.
The solution is portable and thus allows the end-user to easily create a business on their own with the battery. This can be done due to the fact that the battery can be carried around to neighbours, friends and family members and offer them a service (mobile charging, haircut, TV, lights etc.) for a fee. This gives the end user a number of opportunities to start his own small business, where the income can be used, among other things, on the payment of the leased battery. Economic savings for are higher than 45%.

(8) Prepare a detailed business plan

There off-grid solar market represents a huge opportunity for PP Power. To tackle this opportunity and ensure the necessary resources to establish an organisational and value/supply chain setup which enables us to be continuously agile and continuously adapt and further develop our solution we need approx. 5 M€ during the next 4-5 years. This will not be possible without support from EU and capital from investors.

Final results

According to the Feasibility Study, we can conclude without any hesitation that the project shall continue
– i.e. we should proceed with the already ongoing work to establish a strong position in the market.

Briefly, during this action we have found that:
• Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda in Sub-Saharan Africa and India and Bangladesh are the most attractive geographical segments for us in the short and mid/long term. However, the po-
litical, operational, and financial risks for a European SME are huge.

• We need to ensure the necessary resources to establish an organisational and value/supply chain setup.

• End-users are willing to use and pay for our solution. From the deployment models tested with end-users, we have decided to pursue with the “flexible” and “buy in cash” models

• The preferred distribution and sales channels are sales representatives and franchising.

• We need to be able to change our “off-the-shelf” product to a solution where PP Power is in complete control

Website & more info

More info: http://www.pp-power.com.