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The Mozambican tourism sector is characterised by remote lodges that offer a quiet oasis for tourists from all over the world, far from Mozambique's national electricity grid. To meet their electricity needs, the operators of these lodges often rely on diesel generators.

At first glance, the capital investment for a solar system does not seem comparable to the cost of running diesel generators. However, when life-cycle costs are considered, a photovoltaic system quickly becomes a cost-effective alternative. The costs of procuring diesel through vast areas that are often difficult to access as well as the maintenance costs of generators add up considerably over the lifetime of the system. This results in great market potential for PV systems for self-supply, which can additionally be coupled with a battery system or a modern diesel generator.

In addition to cost savings, the use of climate-friendly energy solutions and the reduction of CO₂ consumption enables an expanded marketing approach for the lodges to develop new customer segments. After all, noisy diesel generators that pollute the environment are often perceived as a nuisance by tourists.

The Travessia Beach Lodge decided to take this step in 2014. With its location about 60 kilometres away from the next largest town and thus from the electricity grid, it is dependent on self-sufficiency. To ensure a reliable energy supply at the off-grid location, only the most energy-efficient appliances were used in addition to an optimised electrical infrastructure. This further minimised the consumption of energy and resources.

German Contribution

The Project Development Programme (PDP) team of the German Energy Solutions Initiative connected the Travessia Beach Lodge team with the right German contractor. Asantys Systems GmbH realised the stand-alone PV system plus battery as power storage for night and rainy days with German components such as SMA inverters, Hoppecke batteries and SolarWorld modules. A system for monitoring and documentation of energy consumption was also installed. The installation of the system was carried out by local specialists who were trained with the support of PDP.

In addition to the good planning and provision by Asantys Systems, the installation and involvement of the local company also contributed to the success. Harald Olk, an expert in rural electrification, was responsible for supporting the commissioning and project management.

The example shows that renewable energies and energy efficiency can go hand in hand with luxury eco-lodge concepts. New buildings in particular offer the opportunity to integrate sustainable energy concepts from the outset, which not only lead to energy savings and a reliable energy supply, but also contribute to a green image and a good reputation.

Support of the German Energy Solutions Initiative

The project was realised as a result of PDP’s activities in Mozambique and in cooperation with the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Inhambane Provincial Association of Hotels & Tourism. PDP proactively informed local partner companies and German system integrators and was able to contribute to the sustainable implementation through technical trainings for local installers on site.

Among other things, a sector analysis on the topic of "Qualitative Photovoltaic Power Supply for the Mozambican Tourism Sector" was prepared, which was based on energy audits of two other hotel facilities as case studies in addition to the Travessia Lodge.

System Data

Installed capacity:	7-kW solar system with 40-kWh battery storage
Location:	Region Inhambane, Mozambique
Client:	Travessia Beach Lodge
In operation since	2014
German business partner:	Asantys Systems GmbH
Type:	Off-grid, ground-mounted PV system with battery
Yield:	Up to 40MWh per year
Saved CO2 emissions:	Up to 29.6 tonnes per year
Number of solar panels:	24 x 290Wp
Number of inverters:	1 x SMA Sunny Island 8.0, 2 x SMA SB 3600