EverPower - an expandable, zero-emissions solar generator for Nigerian SMEs
Project disclaimer
Description
BioLite is an energy company that develops and manufactures clean cooking, lighting, charging, and power storage technologies for off-grid households across sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past ten years, BioLite has commercialised over 30 products and shipped over half a million products a year to 100 countries, delivering clean energy access to nearly 8 million people across 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, over 11 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including clinics, schools, farms, and small businesses, rely on dirty, inefficient fossil fuel generators to power their businesses. In addition to providing costly and interrupted power supply, these have serious health and environmental consequences. Building on BioLite's deep technical expertise in solar generators and with the support of Innovate UK, BioLite proposes developing EverPower, an expandable, zero-emissions solar generator capable of replacing fossil fuel generators and applicable to the needs of weak grid or off-grid Nigerian SMEs. EverPower would fill the "missing middle" in the solar energy market: it would be larger than most commercially available solar home systems, but smaller than most mini-grid systems. It will also be the first zero-emissions pay-as-you-go generator designed to be sold and scaled through a B2B model in sub-Saharan Africa. BioLite has strong relationships with the leading clean energy distributors in Nigeria, and will train their large agent networks to audit customer energy needs, tailor the system spec to optimise their fuel savings and experience and install it safely. The plans are to install a first set of EverPowers in Nigeria for testing by October 2024 and, following this, a mass production launch in Q2 2025. Given the ongoing climate crisis, BioLite is uniquely well placed to design an innovative zero-emissions generator to provide cleaner and safer energy and scale the uptake quickly and cost-effectively in Nigeria.
Objectives
BioLite is an energy company that develops and manufactures clean cooking, lighting, charging, and power storage technologies for off-grid households across sub-Saharan Africa. Over the past ten years, BioLite has commercialised over 30 products and shipped over half a million products a year to 100 countries, delivering clean energy access to nearly 8 million people across 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, over 11 million micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), including clinics, schools, farms, and small businesses, rely on dirty, inefficient fossil fuel generators to power their businesses. In addition to providing costly and interrupted power supply, these have serious health and environmental consequences. Building on BioLite's deep technical expertise in solar generators and with the support of Innovate UK, BioLite proposes developing EverPower, an expandable, zero-emissions solar generator capable of replacing fossil fuel generators and applicable to the needs of weak grid or off-grid Nigerian SMEs. EverPower would fill the "missing middle" in the solar energy market: it would be larger than most commercially available solar home systems, but smaller than most mini-grid systems. It will also be the first zero-emissions pay-as-you-go generator designed to be sold and scaled through a B2B model in sub-Saharan Africa. BioLite has strong relationships with the leading clean energy distributors in Nigeria, and will train their large agent networks to audit customer energy needs, tailor the system spec to optimise their fuel savings and experience and install it safely. The plans are to install a first set of EverPowers in Nigeria for testing by October 2024 and, following this, a mass production launch in Q2 2025. Given the ongoing climate crisis, BioLite is uniquely well placed to design an innovative zero-emissions generator to provide cleaner and safer energy and scale the uptake quickly and cost-effectively in Nigeria.
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