Solarise Africa is expanding in Africa. The company, which supplies solar energy to industrial and commercial enterprises, has recently entered into a partnership with Centennial Generating, which installs clean energy systems including electricity storage in East Africa. Through this alliance, Solarise is adding seven projects to its portfolio, most of which are in Rwanda. These installations provide electricity to schools, health facilities, businesses, accommodation facilities and the agricultural sector.
Solarise Africa also obtains two solar photovoltaic systems in Zambia and a project under development in Uganda. “By partnering with Solarise, we are able to offer both battery-based electricity storage and solar projects to commercial and industrial facilities. These projects are fully financed through turnkey engineering and asset management services. Centennial’s projects are designed to improve our customers’ profitability, stabilize their power supply and support their commitment to sustainability goals,” said David John Frenkil, founder and managing director of Centennial Generating.
This partnership comes just months after Solarise Africa raised funds. The Nairobi-based company has raised $10 million from Proparco, the subsidiary of French Development Agency (AFD); EDFI ElectriFI (Electrification Financing Initiative), a European Union funding mechanism; and Energy Access Ventures (EAV).
The company wants to take advantage of the failure of national electricity grids in Sub-Saharan Africa to provide its services to commercial and industrial companies. “Our solutions enable companies to overcome the financing barrier and reduce dependence on unstable power grids. This significantly improves uptime and productivity,” says Patrik Huber, co-founder and managing director for East Africa at Solarise Africa.
Jean Marie Takouleu