Ener-G-Africa’s New Stove and Cookware Factory in Paarl Has Big Expansion Plans

May 13, 2024

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by Edward West (IOL) Ener-G-Africa, a Malawi-based company that operates in 14 countries, yesterday opened a factory in Paarl (South Africa) that produces advanced clean-burning, fuel-efficient stoves and cookware for local and other African markets, and there are plans to set up the biggest solar panel manufacturing plant in the country.

Energ-G-Africa CEO André Moolman said at the launch yesterday (May 9, 2024) that they started the company in Malawi in 2007 to find ways to solve the problem many Africans have of spending, for example, more time and money on the fuel for their stoves, than on the food they were cooking.

The company came up with innovative designs that resulted in significant energy savings, not only in cooking time, but also in the cost of cooking and the environmental benefits of not using petrochemicals as fuels.

“Every day, millions of women across the continent have no option but to cook in unsafe conditions, using inefficient equipment. They spend hours collecting firewood for fuel, and cooking on primitive, unhealthy and often dangerous wood-burning stoves. We are looking to change that by providing accessible, cost-effective and innovative cookware that saves women time, money and fuel,” said Moolman.

The factory in Paarl, which employs 150 people, manufactures four ranges of stoves and other cookware, and all are made from stainless steel manufactured in South Africa, as opposed to the most common cookware available to lower income groups in South Africa, which are produced from aluminium.

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An example of the innovative design are its Fab stoves that use gasification technology to cook like gas, but with biomass as fuel, while its Mafecs stove is capable of being fuelled with whatever the fuel, including small pieces of wood, and the design was being further enhanced to also allow it to burn gas.

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He said these panels, and the stoves and cookware, were mainly being sold through Ener-G-Africa’s own store network in Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Angola and Tanzania, and also in South Africa. These smaller solar panels were mainly used for lights and cellphone chargers, he said. READ MORE

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Biomass pellet cooking in Africa gathers momentum (Bioenergy International)
New clean cooking equipment factory opened in Paarl (Creamer Media's Engineering News)
Ener-G-Africa launches local clean cooking stoves and cookware factory (ProAgri)
Pellet cookstoves should be considered as a modern cooking solution (Ener-G-Africa)
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Excerpt from Bioenergy International: The Fab Stove provides high-efficiency combustion cooking by burning biomass pellets. The stove can also operate with a 20W solar panel and a power bank that comes with the unit.

The facility also manufactures the MAFECS (Multi-Application Fuel-Efficient Cooking System) Stove that is compatible with firewood and biomass pellets, the TLC-CQC Rocket Stove, a range of stainless steel cookware referred to as SiZL, and the Eco2Pot, a climate-smart outdoor cooking solution that reduces fuel-usage by up to 20 percent.

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The Rocket Stove, an energy-efficient rural cook stove is delivered either fully assembled or in flat-packed parts that can be assembled in any of the twelve African countries where the stove is distributed.

An EGA double Fab stove with a SiZL and
Eco2pot (photo courtesy EGA).

According to the company, this concept has several advantages, including reduced shipping costs and import duties, while much-needed local jobs are created through the stove assembly process.

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Ultimately, the company intends to invest in several pellet manufacturing facilities to supply its customers with economic cooking fuel.

Biomass pellets are the best option

Of all clean cooking options; electric cooking, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), biogas, or ethanol cookstoves, biomass pellets offer by far the lowest cooking costs.

This is a decisive advantage in a continent where most of the population comes from low-income communities, and where the scarcity of foreign exchange and devaluating currencies make energy imports even more expensive.

This is all in addition to the fact that the electricity supply in Africa, where available, is unreliable.

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Gasifying pellet cookstoves such as the Fab stove, work with a wide variety of raw materials including most agricultural residues such as straw, bagasse, rice husks, or purpose-grown crops such as Miscanthus or Napier grass.

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The big advantage compared to imported fuels, besides the lower costs, is the creation of local jobs.

Aside from environmental and health considerations, the current firewood- and charcoal production and trade, have considerable economic relevance and support hundreds of thousands of jobs.

These jobs will be replaced with new ones in the modern clean cooking value chain system.

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The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) is prioritizing pellet cooking, as most gains for sustainable bioenergy use can be made in this field.

The fact that significant investments are now flowing into this sector is as encouraging as the International Energy Agency (IEA) is actively pushing the replacement of traditional unsustainable bioenergy use towards modern forms of clean cooking.

In partnership with the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA), the IEA is co-hosting global leaders for a Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa on May 14, 2024, in Paris, France, to make 2024 a turning point for progress in ensuring clean cooking access for all.

The topic of pellet cooking was hardly been recognized in the past, due to its marginal size to date. However, the potential is huge considering that 3 billion people will need sustainable cooking methods in Africa by 2050. Even with a limited share of 30 percent in cooking markets, this will translate into a pellet demand of 100 million tonnes, almost twice as much as the current global pellet production, commented Dr Christian Rakos, President of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) and moderator at the seminar held in conjunction with the opening ceremony.

READ MORE

Excerpt from Creamer Media's Engineering News: “Our factory is a stainless steel factory, using only South African manufactured stainless steel, which is world-class,” highlights EGA business development manager Dave Lello. “We have equipped it with the latest technology machines, including a fibre laser cutter, a range of presses, bending machines, and polishing machines, among others.”

The two types of stove are the Multi-Application Fuel Efficient Cookstove (Mafecs) and the Forced Air Biomass (Fab) stove. The latter comes in two formats: single and double (two stove units in one frame). The new plant will be able to produce 120 Mafecs, 80 Fabs and 70 double Fabs each day.

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The company is initially prioritising wood fuel, because currently the supply of pellets in South Africa is woefully inadequate, and because the Mafecs, being an enclosed system, will greatly increase the safety of cooking in informal dwellings. Ideally, wood from alien trees will be used for fuel. The Fab stoves have fans in their bases, which blow air through the base of the stove, providing them with very high energy efficiency.

The two ranges of pot produced by EGA are the SIZL pot and the eCO2pot. The sizzle pot range is composed of a 2 ℓ capacity pan, 4 ℓ, 6 ℓ and 8 ℓ pots. The eCO2pot range covers the same sizes. Daily production capacity will be 500 SIZL pots and 400 eCO2pots.

“Our SIZL pots have three layers in their bases – a stainless steel layer, and aluminium layer, and another stainless steel layer,” reports Lello. “This protects the base and prevents the food burning, yet the pots are still low cost. They can be used with gas, electricity, and induction stoves, as well as biomass, including open fires. Aluminium pots can’t be used on induction stoves.”

The eCO2pots are basically SIZL pots fitted with an integral skirt. This skirt captures the hot air created by the cooking process and causes it to rise up the side of the pot, so the pot’s side becomes part of its heating surface. This increases energy efficiency and cuts the amount of fuel needed by about 25%.

“We have a ‘tools-and-fuel’ business model,” explains Lello. READ MORE

Excerpt from ProAgri: The plant uses 100% locally made stainless steel and is located near Ener-G-Africa’s other facility – a women-run solar manufacturing plant that is the second largest on the continent.

Ener-G-Africa is a Proudly South African member, committed to an uplifting ethos that promotes social and economic change and progress and to making a meaningful contribution to building South Africa’s economy and alleviating unemployment.

The company has invested in cutting-edge manufacturing technology, including a 6kW laser cutter and a 25m long dishwasher for cleaning the finished cookware. The laser cutter provides high precision and accuracy, with an “auto coil” feature that enables the machine to auto-feed and cut material, increasing efficiency in batch production and minimising material waste. Laser cutting also allows for flexibility in terms of cutting the different shapes and patterns required to produce the full range of cookware.

“As well as serving the needs of African women, our range is well suited to anyone who enjoys cooking outdoors, from camping enthusiasts to South Africans who love to sit around a fire together,” says Moolman. “Our stoves and cookware are fuel-efficient, easy-to-use, clean-burning and designed to bring the joy back into cooking.” READ MORE