BY DARGIE KAHSAY
Yohanis Bimrew, 21, is a first-year student at Addis Ababa University. He is investing in innovations in renewable energy, agriculture and aviation sectors. Recently he launched his innovational technology product focusing on sustainable energy production, Hulubeje Sustainable Energy.
Yohanis innovation was among the 20 winners of the Youth Future Hope job creation competition organized by the Ethiopian Job Creation Commission and Master Card Foundation for the year 2020/21. Hulubeje has secured 200 thousand Birr from the competition to promote the new technology and to support the technology for further development as the innovation is in its initial phase of production.
During his short stay with The Ethiopian Herald Yohanis said that as he grows up in a rural part of Ethiopia, he is well aware of the difficulty to get energy access. From an early age, he tended to technology. “When I was 12, I used to travel to the nearest town to attend grade seven. There I started repairing radio and other simple electronics” Yohanis said.
After moving to Addis Ababa to attend secondary school education, he came across an opportunity for developing his interest in innovation. In this regard, since his older brother has a computer maintenance shop, he became familiar with technologies parallel to his schooling, he said. Three years ago he started his efforts of investing in innovational creations, and then his first product, Hulubeje Sustainable Energy started.
Hulubeje Sustainable Energies technology is a renewable energy technology product to produce electric energy from hydropower. According to him the product is moveable from place to place easily and is suitable to use the product in remote areas.
The technology, Hulubeje Sustainable Energies, produces electric energy without wasting the natural flow of rivers and it can easily produce energy from small rivers, natural fountains or by turning the water from rivers through pumps to hit the turbine and the technology easily produces energy.
As to him, the technology can produce 10 KWs of electric power and the technology is very helpful in areas devoid of energy access. The installed energy product is an easy energy production technology to be set up on rivers and streams around rural villages to produce energy supply for lighting, cooking and other small electronic activities which need small energies.
For Yohanis, Hulubeje aims to reach the remote villages which didn’t get energy access so far and it is an appropriate product to provide energy for scattered villages using the small rivers found near the villages. He added that the produced technology can produce 220-volt energy and this capacity can provide energy for light and cooking. In addition, he said, the energy power of the product can move water pumps and other small electronics for different purposes.
Currently, Yohan’s said, Hulubeje is on its final phase of production and ready for a minimum viable product, to start pilot operation. He also announced that his product is ready for pilot operation.
After producing Hulubeje in Addis Ababa the product was transported to Gojam for pilot testing. “Product, place, promotion and price are the four necessary things for the initial test of a new product,” he said. Yohans added that for the pilot testing, he moved the product to an area where electric access is unavailable.
For the first testing purpose, Hulubeje product was travelled to his birthplace called Zelalem Desta, a rural kebele of Enese Woreda of Amhara State. According to him, the first testing is crucial for further development of the next steps of the product.
According to him as over 30 per cent of the Ethiopian population resides around rivers, either small or big, innovations like Hulubeje can easily use these rivers to produce electricity for scattered villages. For him, one Hulubeje product can provide electricity access to up to 100 households.
The youth said that after started his innovational activities, he attended some training which supported him to live his dream. Especially, the month-long training and financial support during the Youth Future Hope Job Creation competition have enabled him to speed up the making of his product, Hulubeje.
For Yohanis energy is among the basic needs of the next generation and investing in energy at this time is not a matter of choice for countries. Hence, expanding and developing the sources of energy is a timely action to reach the people still forced to live nights in rural Ethiopia.
‘I want to see my innovation solving peoples problems and I hope I will achieve that soon,” Yohanissaid adding “my next plan is achieving this dream of solving the rural community’s power problem by making Hulubeje operational.” He stated that he is investing his maximum efforts to make the innovation real, but as innovations need strong supports, additional supports are necessary.
He further stated that Hulubeje Renewable Energies is not limited only to producing power from water. The next plan of Hulubeje is to innovate new and easy local technologies to produce power from wind and solar. By strengthening these efforts of investing in new local innovational technologies, he plans to combat the darkness in the rural parts of Ethiopia.
These and other similar innovational initiatives can help Ethiopia’s efforts of expanding off-grid energy access as the country is striving to reach universal energy access by 2025 with its National Universal Electrification Program launched recently. In this regard, Ethiopia is investing in hydro, solar, geothermal and wind energy developments at the state level and inviting and promoting the private sector in energy production.
Innovational efforts by professionals and private sector actors are helpful to facilitate the country’s goal of universal energy access including the 35 per cent off-grid energy development plan of the country.
Yohanis innovation which is using easy and simple technology to produce electric power from water is unique in this regard as it is easily portable and used small rivers in rural areas. As to him, following the first testing, by identifying the outcomes and new findings per the first operation testing, he aims to develop the production of the new product to reach more power inaccessible areas in the rural part of the country. In addition to its modern technological system that is eco-friendly and keeps the natural cleanliness of the rivers and the waters, his innovation aims to provide the community with affordable prices. He said that he will announce the next phase after the first testing soon.
Though Ethiopia is investing its maximum capacity to reach its population to have affordable and renewable energy access, still now over 60 per cent of the Ethiopian population is waiting to have electric access. Local innovation and private sector investments in the energy sector are very important steps in expanding and facilitating energy access for the country’s population which continued life in darkness.
Though around 45 per cent of the Ethiopian population have energy access, still around 90 per cent of the population in Ethiopia uses fuelwood, charcoal and other nonrenewable sources for cooking. This indicated that in addition to the government’s efforts of developing the energy sector, it needs further interventions and investments by the private sector and the youth generations innovational involvements may need new attention for the development of the sector.
The Ethiopian Herald August 8/2021
