Under the umbrella of the RenewableTechNigeria programme, Rubitec Academy recently hosted the five-day POLARSTORE Training Programme 2025 – a hands-on, technical deep dive into solar-hybrid cold storage solutions for Nigeria’s fast-growing energy and agri-food sectors.
For Larive International and our partners, POLARSTORE is more than a containerised cooling system. It is a practical example of how Dutch–Nigerian collaboration can accelerate the transition to reliable, low-carbon cold chains that safeguard food, vaccines and other temperature-sensitive products.
Why POLARSTORE matters for Nigeria
Nigeria’s agriculture and pharmaceutical industries face a common challenge: how to keep products cool and safe in regions where grid power is unreliable or prohibitively expensive. Solar-hybrid cold storage offers a way to cut post-harvest losses, protect high-value products and reduce diesel consumption at the same time.
Bolade Soremekun, Managing Director of Rubitec Nigeria Limited, described the POLARSTORE programme as a “major success” with the potential to significantly impact Nigeria’s renewable energy sector, particularly in agriculture and pharmaceuticals, by promoting sustainable energy solutions and reducing carbon emissions.
The training was designed to turn that potential into practice by building a pool of engineers and technicians who can design, install and maintain these systems across the country.
A structured, five-module learning journey
The POLARSTORE Training Programme was structured around five integrated modules, combining classroom theory, demonstrations and extensive hands-on work with the system itself. Participants worked through:
- Photovoltaic systems – fundamentals of solar power generation and system sizing.
- Battery technologies – storage options, performance characteristics and safety.
- Refrigeration cycles – how cooling systems work, where efficiency is gained or lost.
- System interfaces – inverters, controllers and monitoring tools.
- Solar-hybrid system integration – bringing all components together in a robust POLARSTORE configuration.
The photos above captures one of the core moments of the week: trainees clustered around the POLARSTORE unit, taking turns to configure and set up the system under the guidance of trainers.
This hands-on approach ensured that concepts discussed in the classroom could be immediately tested and understood in a real-world context.
Inside the training room – as shown below – participants followed structured lectures and group discussions, working through design questions, troubleshooting scenarios and case examples from the Nigerian market.
Developing local master trainers
A core ambition of RenewableTechNigeria is to create local ownership and long-term capacity, rather than one-off interventions. The POLARSTORE training therefore focused not only on individual skills, but also on building a cadre of master trainers within Rubitec, SolarCentric and Sosai.
These master trainers are now equipped to:
- replicate the course for new cohorts of engineers and technicians,
- provide after-sales support and optimisation advice to POLARSTORE users, and
- serve as technical ambassadors for solar-hybrid cold storage solutions in their
respective regions.
The group photo above– bringing together students, trainers and partners – reflects this broader ecosystem: Nigerian renewable energy companies, Dutch technology and knowledge partners, and the project team standing side by side.
Trainee feedback: impactful, relevant and practical
Participants described the programme as impactful, well-organised and highly relevant to their professional growth. They particularly valued:
- the balance between theory and hands-on practice,
- exposure to real system interfaces and components, and
- the opportunity to ask detailed technical questions in a small-group setting.
Many trainees expressed a desire for even more practical activities and real-life case studies in future editions – a clear signal that the appetite for deep technical learning in Nigeria’s renewable energy community is strong and growing.
Beyond technical skills, the training also created space for informal networking and exchange. The image belowshows participants sharing a lunch break – a simple but important moment where engineers, entrepreneurs and trainers could build relationships that will continue long after the final session.
A milestone for RenewableTechNigeria
The concluding reflections of the programme underline its strategic importance: the 2025 POLARSTORE Training marks “an important milestone in Nigeria’s renewable energy development journey”, strengthening technical capacity and collaboration while equipping engineers and energy professionals with the skills needed to support sustainable cold-chain solutions across the country.
For Larive International, this milestone sits squarely within our wider mission:
- Transforming value chains – by ensuring that farmers, food processors and pharmaceutical suppliers can rely on efficient, clean cold storage from farm to market.
- Catalysing investment – by demonstrating viable solar-hybrid business models that reduce operational risk and operating costs.
- Bridging Netherlands and Nigeria – by linking Dutch technology providers with capable Nigerian partners who can install, maintain and scale these solutions locally.
Looking ahead
The POLARSTORE Training Programme 2025 has laid a strong foundation. The next steps will focus on:
- supporting master trainers as they roll out additional trainings,
- linking trained engineers to concrete deployment opportunities in agriculture and healthcare supply chains, and
- collecting data and case studies from operational POLARSTORE sites to further refine system design and business models.
As demand for reliable, climate-friendly cold chains continues to rise, the combination of high-quality Dutch technology, local Nigerian expertise and targeted capacity building offers a compelling pathway forward.
Through RenewableTechNigeria and initiatives like the POLARSTORE Training Programme,
Larive International and its partners remain committed to turning that pathway into tangible
impact – one trained engineer, one installed system and one resilient cold chain at a time.
One Response
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