Page 13 - AfrElec Week 13 2021

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African countries in 2021. company has previously met or is meeting 60%
Karpowership supplies 1,400MW to eight of generation for Gambia, 26% for Ghana, 100%
countries in the region and is targeting the addi- for Guinea Bissau, 10% for Guinea, 25% for Leb-
tion of 1,000MW in 2021. anon, 10% for Mozambique, 15% for Senegal,
Since 2010, the company has completed 80% for Sierra Leone, 10% for Sudan, 10% for
25 power ships with an installed capacity of Cuba, 30% for North Sulawesi, Indonesia, 55%
4,100MW while additional ships with a capacity for East Nusa Teneggara, Indonesia, 80% for
of 4,400MW are either under construction or are Ambon, Indonesia, 10% for Medan, Indonesia,
in the pipeline. 16% for Zambia and 30% for Southern Iraq.™
In terms of electricity generation, the

NEWS IN BRIEF

INVESTMENT Mullins added. Enlighten™ software monitoring platform
Meridiam has already invested €4bn across designed to help make per-panel energy
Raxio welcomes new Africa for projects including solar power monitoring and insights for operations and
maintenance easy.
plants in Senegal, a geothermal power plant
backer with $48mn in Ethiopia, the Kinguele Aval Hydropower products, Rubicon is excited to include the
“After careful analysis and testing of its
plant, which will deliver about 13% of the
investment electricity needs of Libreville, the capital city Enphase product range in our offering,”
of Gabon and NeOT, a company rolling out
said Nick Roche, chief product officer at
Raxio Group has received a $48mn 300,000 solar home systems and mini-grids Rubicon Energy. “We have been impressed
investment from Meridiam, the French asset across West Africa. by all aspects of Enphase and believe it is a
manager specialising in mobility, social It has also backed the Biokala biomass great organisation with an excellent product
infrastructure, and energy transition and power plant in Côte d’Ivoire, the largest offering which is well-suited to the South
environment. biomass power plant in Sub-Saharan Africa African solar market requirements. We have
The funds will be used to deploy “a which will be fuelled from agricultural waste found the Enphase microinverter product
network of data centres across the African and will meet the electricity needs of the ecosystem to be refined, easy to install and
continent”, which Raxio said will utilise design equivalent of 1.7mn people per year, reliable, all things we know our customers
and technology to “minimise the impact on MERIDIAM really want. We are very pleased to be
the environment”. partnering with Enphase in South Africa.”
Meridiam’s investment is made alongside “Rubicon strives to introduce new
Raxio’s founding equity partner, Roha Group SOL AR technologies and innovative solutions for the
which established Raxio in 2018, and has been South African PV solar market,” said Greg
funding the company since inception. Enphase Energy joins forces Blandford, director at Rubicon Energy and
Robert Mullins, CEO of Raxio Group, said: E-Mobility. “Enphase has been an innovator
“We are delighted to welcome Meridiam as with Rubicon Energy to with its microinverter technology and has a
our new investment partner in our shared proven track record for quality and cutting-
vision. This investment comes at an ideal time, provide solar solutions in edge technology. The Enphase microinverter
as we have continued our expansion activities 25-year product limited warranty in South
by investing in our third facility – in the South Africa Africa is a testament to this. We are very
Democratic Republic of Congo – following proud to have partnered with Enphase to
our first flagship facility in Uganda and Rubicon Energy, the renewable energy introduce its products to South Africa and
launching the construction of our Ethiopian division of Rubicon Group, is headquartered look forward to building on the company’s
data centre. in Cape Town, South Africa with distribution global success.”
“It is testament to our strategy of branches located across the country. In As with all Enphase microinverters, the
developing an Africa-wide network of local, order to cater to the higher power modules IQ 7A microinverter is powered by Enphase’s
interconnected facilities, that provide our utilised in the region, Rubicon Energy will unique software-defined architecture and
customers with affordable, state-of-the-art predominantly distribute Enphase IQ 7A™ semiconductor integration for excellent
solutions for their IT infrastructure, in a microinverters to residential and commercial reliability and economies of scale. Enphase
neutral, always on environment. Customers installers. microinverters are subjected to a rigorous
are core to the design process to ensure our Enphase IQ 7A microinverters are grid- reliability and quality testing regimen with
facilities are efficient, sustainable and cost- tied and compatible with 60-, 66-, or 72-cell more than one million cumulative hours
effective. With its extensive knowledge in the solar modules up to 465 W. In addition, all of power-on testing to ensure exceptional
development of sustainable infrastructure Enphase solar systems distributed by Rubicon performance under heat, high humidity, salty
in the region, we are convinced Meridiam is Energy will be outfitted with Enphase Envoy™ air, cold, and harsh climate conditions.
the partner of choice for us to continue our communications gateways, which connect an ENPHASE ENERGY
deployment plans and reach our targets,” Enphase-based solar system to the Enphase

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