Adenium Energy Capital is investing $10 million in Enerwheres fleet of mobile solar-diesel hybrid systems. The capital will finance approximately 10 MW of solar systems, enough to power tens of thousands of staff at temporary accommodation facilities, construction sites, mining complexes or refugee camps.
Adenium CEO Wassef Sawaf and Enerwhere Chief Executive Daniel Zywietz signed the deal on Wednesday at the Solar Middle East exhibition in Dubai.
The development of the electricity grid is lagging behind economic growth in many growing communities and industrial areas in the Middle East, causing many commercial and industrial users to rely on expensive diesel generators to keep the lights on and machines running, said Zywietz. Our solar-diesel hybrid systems can dramatically reduce fuel consumption, and therefore the operating cost of these diesel mini-grids, while providing the same or even better reliability.
Enerwhere installed its first system on Dubai's World Islands in early 2014, providing power to a remote construction site. The company also recently completed a contract with Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, where a 5 MW solar-diesel hybrid system supplied 8,000 construction staff with around-the-clock electricity for nine months.
The company said it's currently working to apply its technologies at such diverse projects as temporary accommodations, hotels, construction site offices, concrete batching plants, mines and factories as well as refugee camps.
Enerwhere pointed out that just like conventional diesel generators, its solar systems are fully transportable and can easily be redeployed from one site to the next within days.
"The investment provided by Adenium will enable Enerwhere to substantially increase its rental fleet," Zywietz added. "Doing so will allow a much larger group of commercial and industrial customers to realize substantial fuel savings and simultaneously reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40%, all without making costly upfront investments or taking on long-term liabilities."
Adenium Chief Operating Officer Jeremy Crane said, "After looking at a range of potential transportable solar solutions, we identified Enerwheres solution as, by far, the most suitable in terms of transportability, robustness, ease of use and cost-effectiveness, all of which are essential in the temporary power sector."
The addition of solar to diesel-powered mini-grids provides fuel and emissions savings of up to 40% with no upfront investment for the customer, Enerwhere said. The company added that its solar-diesel hybrid solutions provide financial savings of 15-20% compared to conventional diesel-only systems. Enerwhere will install the systems on a rental or power purchase agreement (PPA) basis.
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