(Bloomberg) — After two years of operating solar-powered
microgrids in four remote villages in Kenya, First Solar Inc.
and Powerhive Inc. are committing to a major expansion.
Powerhive expects to offer electricity to more than 200,000
homes in Kenya from off-grid solar systems, the Berkeley,
California-based microgrid developer said in a statement
Wednesday.
Just 23 percent of Kenya’s population had access to
electricity in 2010, according to World Bank estimates. The
pilot projects reached more than 1,500 people who paid for the
energy with their mobile phones, proving the viability of a
business model that First Solar and Powerhive now plan to
expand.
“It will enable us to cost-effectively reach tens of
millions of people in rural villages unserved by grids while
offering strong risk-weighted returns to investors,” Powerhive
Chief Executive Officer Christopher Hornor said in the
statement. Kenya has more than 44 million residents.
With Powerhive, homes and local businesses in rural areas
will be able to purchase power for tasks including milling corn,
incubating chickens and charging batteries.
First Solar, the biggest U.S. solar panel producer, made an
undisclosed investment in Powerhive in 2013 and Marc van Gerven,
vice president for global marketing, sits on its board.
“Our support of Powerhive stems from a belief that we need
to transform the world from being energy supply-driven to
demand-driven,” van Gerven said in the statement.
The companies didn’t disclose the cost to build the 80
kilowatts of capacity for the four pilot projects, or what users
pay.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Christopher Martin in New York at
cmartin11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
Will Wade, Tina Davis