Harvesting Sunshine

The Energizing Agriculture Programme (EAP) in Nigeria demonstrated that switching to electric productive uses of energy (PUE) can reduce agribusiness energy costs by up to 82% and significantly lower the levelized cost of energy for minigrid developers. The report details the deployment of 269 pieces of equipment and provides strategic recommendations for governments, companies, developers, investors, and donors to scale integrated energy-agriculture solutions.

• The adoption of electric productive uses of energy (PUE) significantly reduces costs for agribusinesses and increases value. Agribusiness owners saved up to 82 percent on energy costs by switching from fossil fuel-powered equipment to electric alternatives, and a $61,000 investment in PUE resulted in 2x in value-added commodities within one year of operation.
• PUE deployment improves the financial viability of minigrids by increasing electricity sales and lowering costs. A 3-ton cold room can reduce the levelized cost of energy by 25 percent, and minigrids serving multiple PUE loads can produce electricity at half the cost of those serving primarily residential customers.
• The EAP's operational experience involved the deployment and operation of 269 pieces of equipment, including mills, freezers, and electric vehicles, at rural minigrids in Nigeria.

APA

RMI (2024). Harvesting Sunshine. https://rmi.org/resources/harvesting-sunshine/

Chicago

RMI. Harvesting Sunshine. 2024. https://rmi.org/resources/harvesting-sunshine/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Harvesting Sunshine |date=3 September 2024 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/harvesting-sunshine/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2024harvesting, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Harvesting Sunshine}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2024}, month = sep, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/harvesting-sunshine/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }