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Powerhive to power rural Kenya
Powerhive has been named the exclusive
recipient of proceeds designated for solar
project pre-financing from sales of the Sun
Exchange SUNEX digital rewards token. The funds will be used for building solar-powered
rural electrification mini-grid projects, which include
revenue and livelihood enhancing programmes
throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Sun Exchange will allow users to buy solar panels
with crypto currencies and lease them to various
projects, while Powerhive, which has offices
in both the United States and Kenya, will enable
the development, financing, and management of
bankable solar micro-grids. The solar panels that make up these projects will
subsequently be offered to Sun Exchange members,
who will then receive the decades of ‘solar-powered
money’. Upon subscription, 150 new projects will be
funded and is expected to provide power to 175 000
people currently lacking power.
“We are working towards a world where no one is
forced to cook with unsafe kerosene or wood-burning
stoves; no child has to worry about how they will study
after dark; and where lack of energy access ceases to
propel cycles of poverty,” says Abraham Cambridge,
founder and chief executive officer of Sun Exchange. “The crypto currency community is made up of
inspired individuals eager for more than just financial
gain. Our partnership with Powerhive underscores
the SUNEX token sale opportunity to support a crypto
project geared directly towards reducing global
inequality and climate impact,” says Cambridge. PA
Sun Exchange, the South African solar micro-leasing marketplace,
has partnered with rural mini-grid solutions provider Powerhive to
use the crypto-economy to provide access to energy in rural Kenya.
Sun Exchange, the South African solar
micro-leasing marketplace, has partnered
with rural mini-grid solutions provider
Powerhive.
Gabon to build eight
hybrid solar power plants
The government of Gabon, through its financial institution, Caisse des Dépôts
et Consignations (CDC), has signed an agreement with ENGIE to construct eight
hybrid solar power plants with a combined capacity of 2.2MW in the country.
The implemented solution has been developed
by ENGIE’s subsidiary Ausar Energy, in
collaboration with CDC and the Gabonese
energy and water company Société d’Énergie
et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG), and it means that
solar energy can be used in eight locations
that are currently supplied by oil-fired thermal
power stations.
www.plumbingafrica.co.za
Ausar Energy offers the African continent a hybrid
solar power plant solution in line with ENGIE Group’s
strategy of promoting decentralised generation and
distribution of electricity from renewable sources,
with or without storage facilities, with capacities
ranging from 50kW to 2.5MW.
The project is set to save the country one million
litres of fuel oil per year, or 2 600 tonnes of CO 2 , and
reduce generation costs by 30%.This strategic priority
is designed to ensure continuous access to energy in
isolated areas that are not and cannot be connected
to grids, as well as to limit the consumption of fuel oil,
to manage costs, and to reduce pollution. PA
Construction of the project is set to begin in a
few weeks. Upon completion, it will contribute
to Gabon’s proactive policy of using renewable
energy, solar, and hydropower to increase the
country’s energy capacities.
ENGIE is to construct eight hybrid
solar power plants.
October 2018 Volume 24 I Number 8