[Yvette van Dok]

Gea Logos is an SME involved in production of berries of different sorts, run by Mrs. Eliso Ghviniashvili. She is also cofounder of the Georgian Berry Growers Association. Production of berries is stimulated by government policies in the region. Berries are produced for the city and for the European market. These berries need cooling and/or deep freezing right after being harvested. As yet such facilities are not available. Gea Logos is located at a distance of 10 km from the grid. Gea Logos is in search of the right solution. Several issues need to be researched:
1) It is not sure whether the grid offers a solution (it would take an investment in the grid extension of 10 km of wiring, to be paid by the company), or whether the use of solar energy would pay off in the long run.
2) Some type of cool storage needs to be designed (or bought or copied) specifically tailored to the demands of berry production (shock freezing is required), energy-efficient, user-friendly, affordable.
3) It should be researched whether the energy system and/or cooling system can be used in multiple ways, since the berries do not need to be stored year-round. What else can be done with the cooling system, with the energy system?
4) A profitable business plan for the productive utilization of the facilities needs to be developed, not only on the level of this one company, but also for and/or in cooperation with other similar companies in the region and with the Georgian Berry Growers Association. In case the plan proves to be feasible, Geo Logos (and probably other farmers) will be happy to give follow up to it for practical implementation.

The internship option requires one month of preparatory study in the Netherlands (cooling, solar energy, berry production and handling in the Netherlands) and two months at Gea Logos. The internship should preferably be planned during wintertime, from December until April. Students from Sustainable Energy Technology, Entrepreneurship Development or other disciplines that are interested can contact Yvette van Dok of the Brilliant Entrepreneur: yvette@brilliantentrepreneur.net

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