In the Eastern Mediterranean, Lebanon should be a regional leader in agricultural production. The tiny country boasts a wide range of high-quality produce—from strawberries grown on mountaintops to bananas cultivated in the south—which could nourish more people locally and internationally.

Unfortunately, Lebanon’s agricultural sector has run unsustainably and inefficiently for decades. Outdated farming techniques have depleted soil quality and polluted groundwater reserves, while farmers themselves receive minimal profits for their hard work. Now Lebanon’s unprecedented economic crisis has made this antiquated business model completely untenable. Many farmers can no longer afford imported diesel to run their agricultural machinery; imported inputs, like seeds, have also become prohibitively expensive.

Born from the urgent need to address unreliable electricity and rising diesel costs for farmers in Lebanon, YY ReGen developed a clean, flexible, and affordable solution. The co-founders leveraged their engineering expertise to build the ReGen-R8, a mobile solar unit that quickly gained traction.

With a vision to be a leading provider of sustainable energy, YY ReGen ‘s mission is to replace diesel with mobile solar power through an innovative Energy-as-a-Service model. This approach eliminates the high upfront costs of traditional solar, offering farmers a rental service with affordable monthly fees.

The ReGen-R8 provides clean, reliable power on demand for agricultural needs like irrigation and cold storage. It empowers farmers and rural communities to increase productivity, reduce costs, and build climate resilience.

Crucially, co-founder Jaafar notes that the economic crisis has driven farmers to seek out renewable energy providers like YY ReGen.

“Our solutions are no longer ‘nice-to-haves,’ but critically needed if Lebanese agriculture is to survive and thrive.”

According to Jaafar, YY ReGen benefits from the co-founders’ complementary skill-sets. Amer Khayyat, YY ReGen’s chief executive officer and a mechanical engineer, has over 20 years of experience in the commercial energy sector. Khayyat added the technical expertise of Jaafar and Nadine Haddad, an agricultural engineer, to handle both primary production and renewable energy.

The founders started out by contributing their own funds, not to mention their unpaid time and effort, to get the company up and running.

Jaafar claims that YY ReGen’s has received already many grants and some contribution from private investors. They won the 2021 Cleanergy e-Hackathon from a list of 99 applicants and nine finalists. YY ReGen’s triumph gave the startup immediate access to the Cleanergy Accelerator Project, which is run by Lebanese SME incubator Berytech. The startup was also awarded many other prizes including recently the Green Excellence Award at the Arab SMEs Summit 2024 in Doha.

Their ecological innovation lies in replacing diesel generators with the ReGen-R8. By offering clean power on demand, they eliminate the high upfront costs that typically prevent rural communities from accessing renewable energy. This approach not only reduces carbon emissions (180 tons annually) and air pollution but also strengthens agricultural productivity and resilience. Beyond energy, they integrate their solutions into sustainable farming practices, such as agrivoltaics, using recycled plastic in solar structures, creating a financially sustainable model that delivers both environmental and social benefits to local communities.

Beyond investors, YY ReGen views a role for all Lebanese to play in securing a greener future for their country. “[A green transition is] a huge challenge, especially in Lebanon, where huge obstacles occur,” said Jaafar. “Everyone needs to eat though, so reducing food loss and investing in sustainable production … can make a difference.”

Learn more about YY ReGen through the website, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Photos courtesy of YY ReGen