Kisenyi is positioned as URPC’s flagship pilot for an urban cold-chain node: a fully integrated model combining solar-powered cold storage, digital traceability, and low-energy logistics for market cooperatives and daily traders.
• Solar Carport: ~350 sqm solar carport generating power while shading market activity areas
• Battery Storage: 250 kWh BESS designed for uninterrupted night-time operation and peak management
• Cold Storage: Four cold chambers with flexible temperature zoning
• Throughput Engineering: Designed around a stated peak throughput of ~6.2 metric tons/day
The Kisenyi concept is not just refrigeration—it is an integrated post-harvest handling workflow that includes:
• Wash station and sorting area, crate loading zone, and FIFO material handling support (pedal hydraulic lifts)
• NFC-tagged crates for batch tracking and inventory visibility, supported by facility IoT sensors (temperature/humidity/energy)
• Security and access governance: video monitoring and biometric/NFC access control concepts
• Hygiene control protocol concepts (e.g., sterilisation workflow and digital logging)
The Kisenyi model is structured as a pay-per-use facility operated by the traders’ entity, enabling daily traders to access cold storage without upfront capital investment, with revenue allocated to operations, debt servicing, and cooperative reinvestment.
The Kisenyi hub is presented as a proof-of-concept node with a stated intent to replicate across additional urban markets (example sites referenced include Nakawa, Nateete, and Nansana).
Flagship pilot in pipeline under URPC’s agro-processing and cold-chain programme.
• Load profiling and duty-cycle mapping (cold rooms, mills, dryers, motors, compressors)
• PV + BESS sizing for continuity and peak management
• Hybrid controls and protection architecture suitable for industrial refrigeration and process equipment
• Monitoring, reporting, and SLA-based O&M governance
• Optional digital layers: sensors, access control, inventory/traceability interfaces (project-dependent)
