Senegal
Energy

CryoSolar

VALOREM is a versatile green energy operator that develops renewable energy parks, and has the energy to act to meet the challenge of a sustainable energy future by involving local populations and communities.

An initiative of Valorem

Overview of the project

Cryosolar® is a solution for producing cold and electricity from renewable energy. This autonomous solar-powered cold room meets the challenges of preserving sensitive and perishable products (food, health, medical). With its innovative cold storage solution (“cold battery”, a green technology patented by VALOREM), Cryosolar® guarantees reliable and continuous cold 24/7, even in the absence of sunlight.

The rapid installation of the container (a few days) guarantees easy redeployment, ensuring progressive coverage of the territory and enabling the economic development of isolated areas not connected to the grid.

This unique solution for the production and storage of cold and electricity from renewable energy sources is based on a clean and environmentally friendly process. In addition to its environmental benefits, Cryosolar® allows the revitalisation of territories, while encouraging the local economy and the economic development of rural areas.

Objective

Cryosolar® is a self-contained solar cold room designed to meet the challenges of conservation in isolated areas.

Level of progress

Multi-site development

Project timeline

01/01/2021 - Project still in progress

Quantitative results

After nearly 3 years of development, aimed at validating the technological innovation of our “cold battery”:

  • The first CryoSolar  was installed in January 2021 on the island of Désirade in Guadeloupe ;
  • The second has been commissioned in July 2021 on the fishing dock of Mbour in Senegal during ;
  • Finally, a third demonstrator has been installed on the fishing dock of Fass Boye (Senegal) in Match 2022.

These demonstrators are made available free of charge to local beneficiaries (fishermen’s collective in Guadeloupe, GIEI in Senegal) in order to test the technology in real conditions of use.

A dedicated mobile management application has been created to facilitate the appropriation of the system and to manage the input-output flows as well as possible.

Qualitative results
  • Since their installation at the beginning of January 2021 for the first one, the CryoSolar systems have demonstrated an autonomy of more than 95% regardless of the season (hurricane season in the West Indies, rainy season in Senegal). This proves the robustness and autonomy of the system under real conditions of use. The system is always connected to an emergency power supply to ensure continuity in the supply of cold and to avoid damaging the foodstuffs stored.
  • As the CryoSolar is equipped with numerous sensors, all of the data collected provides complete feedback on the operating cycles (temperature, electricity production/consumption, etc.).
  • Today, several tons of fish are stored daily in the CryoSolar, allowing for better conservation of the fish, and thus a boost to the local economy linked to the better valorisation of the products of better quality (monitoring-evaluation study in progress).
Financing

The two Senegalese demonstrators were financed up to 30% by the French Global Environment Facility (FGEF), the rest being financed by VALOREM's own funds.

About the
organisation

Valorem

website
Pierre-Olivier Veysset
CryoSolar Project Manager
po.veysset@valorem-energie.com
+33 (0)6 25 86 79 19

The VALOREM Group is an independent, vertically integrated green energy operator with multiple skills in renewable energy. A pioneer in wind power in France, VALOREM also develops and produces solar photovoltaic farms and small hydroelectric power plants. VALOREM is present in France, Finland, Greece and Colombia.

VALOREM also develops R&D projects such as CryoSolar, the current project presented here.

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Other partners / supporters

The project in Senegal is being developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Fisheries and Maritime Economy (MPEM) of Senegal, as well as with the support of the Senegalese National Agency for Renewable Energies (ANER).