"We use biogas for heating the poultry houses, and for cooking. We have chicken and agricultural waste that can be used for biogas production but unfortunately there is limited knowledge and capacity to use this type of energy"- Mr Rui Gomes, Owner, Frangos de Mahubo

Above: The Frangos de Mahubo Agropecuaria Lda biogas plant of is composed of 3 biodigesters (reactors), and each one has a total volume of 15m3, adding up to a total of 45m3

In January 2022, Frangos de Mahubo Agropecuaria Lda became yet another entity to receive funding in the ambit of the BCI SUPER credit scheme for financing renewable energy productive activities, managed by BCI and implemented by UNIDO and FUNAE with the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF)

Frangos de Mahubo Agropecuaria Lda, located in Boane district, Maputo province has the largest biogás plant in the province and is engaged in various productive activities like poultry, fish farming, and the selling of eggs. “We use biogas for warming the poultry house, and cooking. We use manure as a co-substrate for biogas production but unfortunately, there is limited knowledge and capacity to use this kind of energy”-Mr. Rui Gomes, General Director, Frangos de Mahubo

Frangos de Mahubo is major reference not only in Boane but in Maputo province as a whole. The company boosts livelihoods for several community members directly and indirectly. ” We have 11 permanent and 7 casual workers, which means 18 families supportes all together. We offer 20 litres of purified drinking water per family every week” said Mr.Rui Gomes speaking of the benefits of the company to the community. “We have a program known as CARIL DA MAMA which offers farm produce like eggs, chicken parts, and liver at lower prices and this way contributing to food security in the locality” added Mr. Gomes

Despite the benefits the company offers to the Boane locality of over 20,000 people, the energy produced is not sufficient for the smooth operation all the productive activities. Poultry farming is increasingly dependent on energy consumption for its maintenance and development, because the entire productivity of the sector is linked to electricity, and has a series of steps, which include ventilation, lighting, refrigeration, slaughtering, and cooling which need large amounts of electricity.

The poultry farm’s activities require intensive use of energy for the heating, processing and preservation systems of the product. To ensure the availability of energy 24 hours a day, the company has in the past installed a fossil fuel-based energy generation system which makes the business unsustainable

Whereas Frangos de Mahubo already uses renewable energy in its operations, that is biogas produced using chicken waste, there is an increase in demand for electricity in the company during summer when temperatures reach 41 degrees. The electricity demands of the company can barely be met by biogas alone. Therefore, an excellent alternative to improve energy costs in poultry farming is the adoption of solar energy to complement the already existing biodigestor, hence reducing spending on energy input by 100%.

In January 2022, Frangos de Mahubo Agropecuaria Lda became yet another entity to receive funding in the ambit of the BCI SUPER credit scheme managed by BCI and implemented by UNIDO and FUNAE with the financial support of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The funds will be used for the installation of a solar photovoltaic system of 50 kW, with the possibility of expansion in the future