Electricity and Control February 2021

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Mini-grid asset leasing option

Global Eco-Industrial Parks in SA The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (dtic) and the National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA), in partnership with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), has launched the Global Eco-Industrial Parks Programme (GEIPP) in South Africa. GEIPP aims to demonstrate the viability and benefits of Eco-Industrial Parks approaches in scaling up resource productivity and improving the economic, environmental and social performance of businesses, thereby contrib- uting to inclusive and sustainable industrial development in the participating developing and transition economies. Another two Sustain Compact™ solutions were ordered by Equatorial Power, a Uganda-based mini-grid developer that has pioneered off-grid electrification and its productive use in Uganda and neighbouring countries. Equipped with pre-installed and pre-tested SMA inverters supporting about 30 kWp of PV capacity and almost 90 kWh of lithium-ion from Solar MD, the SustainSolar containers will travel to their destination in the DRC this year, where they will be installed and connected to an off-grid distribution system. The turnkey, pre-configured system design and configuration of the SustainSolar The contraction of the global economy paired with far-reaching travel restrictions during most of 2020 slowed down many industrial sectors. It had a significant impact on the implementation of rural electrification projects in de- veloping economies. After several slow-moving months, SustainSolar, South African provider of off-grid solar power generation solutions, finished the year with another nine mini-grid systems to be delivered early in 2021. In response to the Covid-19 crisis, OnePower, a mini-grid developer based in Lesotho, ordered seven containerised, rapid deployment, off-grid solar systems from SustainSolar to energise remote health clinics and their surrounding communities. The modular, turnkey, high quality features of the Sustain Compact™ product range suited the specific needs of the remote health facilities. Each system has an initial solar PV capacity of 20 kWp powered by SMA inverters and is supplied with 51 kWh of Solar MD storage, which can be extended to more than double this size as electricity demand grows. The first two systems were delivered in early December, with the aim to have the first unit installed and running before Christmas. The remaining systems will go live early this year.

The project is funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented internationally by UNIDO. South Africa was chosen to host the programme of Eco-Industrial Parks (EIP) to support the Industrial Park Revitalisation Programme (IPRP) of the dtic, matching the core focus areas of economic, social and environmental benefit in support of the national priorities to address pov- erty, employment, inequality and growth. The NCPC-SA will be the national implementer of the three-year programme, following a successful pilot project in 2018-19. The EIP approach is flexible and can be applied to parks of all sizes, privately or publicly owned. Zikode said the NCPC-SA project will focus on three government-owned EIP parks, including East London In- dustrial Development Zone (SEZ), the Phuthaditjhaba In- dustrial Park and Ekandustria. He said the launch marked an important chapter in building capacity of state-led industrial parks in the country contributing towards the articulation of a green economy. solution allow for this to be done within a matter of days. Undeterred by the global slowdown, SustainSolar leveraged its regional and industry knowledge and joined the European Investment Programme, Get. Invest, for support with the refinement of its innovative asset leasing proposition for mini-grid developers. The Cape Town based company is currently designing several pilot cases to demonstrate that an asset leasing model, commonly used in more mature industries like construction and mining, can be an attractive alternative to traditional CapEx financing. Designed to address some of the bigger hurdles faced by mini-grid developers, SustainSolar’s leasing model increases project viability by reducing CapEx, improving mini-grid project returns, and speeding up scaling. The pilot phase to test and validate the model with a number of enthusiastic mini- grid developers was scheduled to launch in January. For more information contact SustainSolar. Tel: +27 (0)21 204 1881 Email: maxime.delafoy@sustainsolar.co.za Visit: www.sustainsolar.co.za SustainSolar’s turnkey, containerised, pre-installed solar systems are equipped with solar PV panels, electronics and lithium-ion batteries.

The programmewas launched in a virtual ceremony in December 2020, officially opened by dtic Deputy Director-General Sipho Zikode and Ambassador of Switzerland to South Africa, Dr Nicolas Brühl.

16 Electricity + Control FEBRUARY 2021