NEoT Offgrid Africa (NOA) and Winch Energy have invested $12m in mini-grid projects in Uganda and Sierra Leone, contributing to their global ambition to build the largest portfolio of mini-grids in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Their ambition is to reach a portfolio worth $100m.
Thanks to this project, 49 villages in Sierra Leone and Uganda will be equipped with off-grid and remotely controllable solar solutions, known as remote power units (RPUs), which will supply power to nearly 60,000 people.
The RPUs will be designed and manufactured by Winch Energy through its assembly facility in Sicily, Italy.
In a second phase, 6000 portable batteries will be deployed in these villages to serve people who live too far from the power unit.
At the same time, partnerships with telecom operators will be established to guarantee Internet access for households.
Installation of the project has already started with the RPUs for the first villages shipped to Uganda.
All 25 RPUs are expected to arrive in Uganda before the end of 2021.
An additional 12 village power plants are also already operational in Sierra Leone and providing customers with clean energy.
The Uganda sites are expected to be operational in early 2022, while all 24 sites in Sierra Leone will be operational by the second quarter of 2022.