Page 14 - AfrElec Week 15

AfrElec
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrElec
SOLAR
Zimbabwe to construct US
$7m 10MW solar power
station
A 10MW solar power station is set to be built in Zimbabwe before the end of next year
at a cost of US $7m by a leading German investor in renewable energy, Holt holding Group. The company, which has a presence in 46 countries across the world, has already deployed a team in the country to look at investment opportunities.
The company’s co-director generals, Messrs Hendrik Holt and Heinz Luchterhand, announced their decision to invest in renewable energy in Zimbabwe after conducting a closed door meeting with the country’s President. Mr. Holt said they were invited by Zimbabwe’s Embassy in Germany to discover what the country had to offer
in their line of business. “Zimbabwe has extraordinary potential to establish renewable energy projects for the population,” he said.
Luchterhand said the company was looking initially at the 10MW solar power station
“We are keen to do more and not just one project. We have to start from somewhere.
It is important for the image of the country
to show other investors that this works,” he said. He further stated that they were in the country to scout for investment opportunities because they had trust in the country, the government and also the people.
Since 2010, the Holt holding Group has been developing sustainable and regionally oriented solutions in the field of renewable energies. The firm’s core competence is the configuration, technical and commercial development, and company management of wind and solar parks for energy transition.
“We are a business that is internationally active in wind and solar energy. So this is our prime objective and we seek opportunities
in the world where others are not yet there,” Luchterhand said.
GEOTHERMAL
AP Moller Capital buys Kenya’s IberAfrica
Danish fund management firm AP Moller Capital has acquired IberAfrica, an independent power producer (IPP) in Kenya at a time when the country is reducing the utilisation of expensive thermal plants with
the ultimate aim of phasing them out. Although AP Moller’s acquisition of
IberAfrica is informed by the fact that the firm has 14 years to recoup its investments, given that Kenya Power has been cutting down on the use of thermal power makes the investment a gamble.
AP Moller, which focuses on infrastructure in growth markets, acquired the entire issued share capital of the 52.5MW IPP from Spanish power and gas utility firm Naturgy.
IberAfrica has a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Kenya Power for the plant that will expire in 2034, effectively guaranteeing the firm steady revenues for the next 14 years.
As part of plans to phase out thermal plants, the government last year refused to renew the license of IberAfrica’s after its PPA for another 56MW plant expired in September.
“The transaction represents AP Moller Capital’s first investment in Kenya, where
we are planning to be an active long-term partner in the energy transformation, creating employment and driving foreign investments to advance the development and growth agenda,” said Lars Jakobsen, AP Moller Capital senior partner.
OFF-GRID
In Tanzania, electricity and
clean water comes from a
box
“People in the villages had to walk around five kilometres every day to get water and there was absolutely no source of power,” says Peter Aron Kanyelele, who works in the Ikungi district in Tanzania’s Singida region.
This is the reality for 16% of people in rural Tanzania who have no electricity. More than 70% of the country’s 57mn people do not have
clean and safe water.
The UNDP-supported solar-powered Off
Grid Box houses all of the hardware needed to produce electricity and clean, safe water in one shipping container.
“The box converts the sun’s rays into renewable electricity and can power commercial and local grids or it can be stored in power banks—a family kit—that can be transported to homes for later use,” says UNDP Project Manager Emmanuel Nnko.
“The box can also capture rainwater and the electricity is used to filter and sterilise untreated water to provide up to 1,000 litres of drinking water per day.” The box is also carbon neutral.
Twelve Off Grid Boxes have been installed by UNDP in Tanzania in three districts
of Bunda, Ikungi and Busega. They serve about 24,000 people who previously had no electricity. They’re also being used by health centres and schools, meaning, among other benefits, students can study longer.
The financial benefits are also very tangible. Before the Off Grid Boxes were installed, households were spending up to $1.30 a day on bottled water. Now they spend between about $0.43 cents a week. Households that were spending $0.86 a week on kerosene for lighting now pay just $0.17, which includes mobile phone charging.
It is expected that the project will also stimulate a wide range of economic activity -- everything from the sale of electronic devices, to hair salons, to local cinemas, to poultry farming and crop processing.
And the potential for the Off Grid Boxes is huge given that the electricity generated is consumed at only 30-40% of their capacity. It is planned to deploy a ‘pay as you go’ business model in Tanzania, run by women entrepreneurs.
Users will pay $0.09 to recharge batteries, get purified water and wi-fi. There is also potential for other community business models including the sale of the clean water generated by the box in local shops.
P14
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
Week 15 16•April•2020