A regular newsmaker in the energy and sustainability news stories on this site is Clear Blue Technologies, and this week the smart power specialist has announced the execution of a Notice of Award agreement with Growth Energy, a company which specialises in the development, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) and operation and maintenance (O&M) of clean energy power plants in Africa.
There is, of course, a telecoms angle to the deal. Growth Energy has chosen Clear Blue as its OEM partner, and Clear Blue’s Esite-Micro power technology, along with its patented Illumience Smart Power management service, to power a network of telecom sites in Africa.
As Clear Blue points out, the region faces significant cost and availability challenges with diesel fuel. Consequently, the aim of this project is to convert a network of cell phone towers to solar, ensuring clean and reliable solar energy to support critical telecom services.
While not formally agreed just yet, and with no specific countries so far mentioned in the announcement, the project is described as being in the final stages of contract negotiations, with preparation for financing disbursement and commencement of the EPC phase currently underway.
Phase one of the project is scheduled to ship in 2024, with two additional phases planned thereafter, totalling a potential US$4 million across three phases from 2024 to 2026.
Clear Blue was founded in 2011 on a vision of delivering clean, managed, “wireless power” to meet the global need for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid power for lighting, telecom, security, Internet of Things devices, and other mission-critical systems. Its CEO, Miriam Tuerk, says: “This project is an example of the African continent-wide shift towards replacing expensive and polluting diesel generator-based systems with eco-friendly and cost-effective solar energy.”
She adds: “Clear Blue’s Smart Power technology, with its advanced energy forecasting and management capabilities, was crucial to making this project viable and in meeting the uptime and performance targets of the customer.”
Growth Energy develops, finances, deploys, and manages renewable energy power plants for industries, telecom and gated estates in Africa. Its Managing Director, John Okoro, says: “As a technology company with capacity to also operate and manage systems for its customers, Clear Blue will be involved in supporting Growth Energy’s operation and maintenance teams during the long-term operation and maintenance, ensuring the project exceeds performance expectations and delivers guaranteed long-term benefits.”
