Jaguar The Fresh Company has formed a joint venture with two partners to supply solar plants to South African fruit farmers at no upfront cost. The Barendrecht (Netherlands) based fresh produce specialist says this investment in Jaguar New Energies BV fits in perfectly with its focus on a sustainable future.
Kees Rijnhout, CEO of Jaguar TFC: ‘South African farmers face a lot of economic challenges, including the erratic supply of electricity that often leads to ‘dirty electricity’ from diesel generators. With Jaguar having been involved in South Africa for decades we challenged ourselves to create a sustainable solution to this economic and environmental issue. We identified two highly experienced partners with whom to manage such an ambitious project, and subsequently formed Jaguar New Energies. The Dutch Forest Effect Fund has outstanding experience in sustainable agricultural value chains, whilst New Southern Energies is a key player in the southern African solar energy market. Together we have excellent expertise on board to ensure that South African fruit farmers can extract solid value from this unique energy solution from Day #1’.
Paulo Bello of Forest Effect Fund says that solar energy can change the face of farming. ‘Most farmers understand the benefits; however, cost was always an issue. With the model of no upfront investment made possible by our fund, Jaguar New Energies enables a farmer to make an easy and clever transition to sustainable energy. There are solid benefits to the farmer, such as no upfront investment, an exceptionally reliable source of energy, no dependence on the erratic energy supply from the grid, and no operations or maintenance costs. Our model also leads to socio-economic benefits, with discounted electricity being made available to farming and rural communities. With the Dutch government participating in our fund the integrity of our model is guaranteed.’
Deepak John is one of the founders of New Southern Energy in South Africa. John says that NSE has spearheaded some of the leading commercial and industrial projects on the African continent and has installed multiple power systems throughout Africa. John: ‘We understand the unique challenges of projects in various locations and provide an end-to-end service with a single point of contact. This means farmers do not have to juggle multiple vendors, plans and schedules. NSE manages every aspect of every project, so the farmer has a complete perspective of the process from beginning to end. The power and solutions are now – literally – in the farmer’s hands.’
For more information:
Paulo Bello
Jaguar New Energies BV
Tel: + 31 622 317 953
Email: paulo@jaguarnewenergies.com