Solar Ice in Delta du Saloum biosphere reserve.
In tropical countries such as Senegal, ice is an essential resource for the fishing industry. Fishermen, traders, and processing employees (mostly women), rely on ice to preserve fish and keep it fresh. Currently, the demand for ice is greater than what existing ice manufacturers can supply, creating recurrent shortages throughout the country. Augmenting the capacity of existing ice factories and building new plants and cold storage units could reduce these shortages.
Unfortunately, Senegal has been mired in an energy crisis since 2005, and suffers frequent power blackouts that stymie the prospect of economic growth and affect the population’s quality of life. In the fishing industry, the combination of these power blackouts and the exceedingly high price of energy per Kwh (US$ 0.40) has brought on a wave of bankruptcies in the ice manufacturing sector, further reducing ice supplies in the country’s largest fishing ports.
Sangomar Ice Fabrics and Fisheries (SIFF) aims to address this ice supply problem by integrating the use of renewable energy into the ice manufacturing processes. The company’s goal is to manufacture ice for both the fishing industry and other food preservation activities using only clean energy sources.
More information: Sangomar Ice Fabrics and Fisheries (SIFF) | AREED
