Azuri, Oasis Africa Resources and Ministry of Power Lead the Charge to Provide Off-Grid Home Solar in Ghana
Azuri Technologies announced at the Solar & Off-Grid Renewables West Africa Event today its partnership with energy company Oasis African Resources to bring affordable, pay-as-you-go solar power to 100,000 off-grid homes in Ghana in the next 2 years. The project is supported by the Ministry of Power, and aligns with the Government’s current efforts to bring reliable, renewable power to Ghana at scale.
The deployment plan will focus on cocoa farming regions, and be distributed in association with agricultural co-operatives and women-based organisations. The large-scale roll-out builds on previous pilot deployments in Ghana, which have proven the success of this solution for rural Ghanaians over the last 18 months.
While the energy crisis in Ghana has been intensifying, discussion has mainly focused on the business and urban residential populations, who are now experiencing rolling blackouts of 24 hours or more. However, these recent debates obscure the pre-existing challenges for those Ghanaians, predominantly in rural regions, living permanently off the grid. Data available indicates that about 80% of Ghana’s population have access to the grid; however, there are about 5 million people in rural Ghana, most of whom are not likely to be connected in the foreseeable future.
Azuri Technologies’ internationally acclaimed home solar systems bring top-class European design with high-quality components to provide enough clean and reliable power for daily home lighting and mobile phone charging. The project will deploy Azuri’s flagship product Quad, and include 4 high-quality LED lamps, mobile phone charging and a Radio/MP3 player. Crucially, instead of an upfront cost, the system can be purchased through a Pay-As-You-Go model. This model allows you to use the systems while paying for it by the regular purchase of top-up credit, typically costing less than the lighting costs and phone charging fees being replaced.
The Minister for Power, Dr. Kwabena Donkor, commented, “This initiative supports the Government’s commitment to fully incorporate renewable energy into our energy supply mix, as outlined by the President during his State of the Nation’s Address. The Ministry of Power is pleased to support this project for rural households, and will also explore other avenues with Oasis, Azuri and other renewable energy partners to establish solar as a significant and reliable power source for micro enterprises in both rural and urban communities.”
Mr. Isaac Kodom, CEO of Oasis, added, “Oasis has a vision to become a leading private power solutions company that delivers outstanding, innovative products to meet the demands of today’s energy provision. We are committed to developing long-term relationships with strategic partners in the energy sector – we are very excited by Azuri’s innovation and the Government’s commitment towards this initiative.”
Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri, concluded, “Azuri is delighted to be helping bring high-quality domestic solar power to rural Ghana. Azuri’s Quad solar home system brings affordable power to rural households and provides the starting point for families to embrace clean renewable power and ultimately to access power for economic gain.”