CrossBoundary Energy, a renewable energy company with a focus on providing funding for off-grid solutions for businesses in Africa has built and commissioned a solar plant at the Nigerian Breweries Plc. factory, Ibadan.
The commissioning of the 663.60 kilowatts peak (kWp) solar plant at the Nigerian Breweries Plc. factory in Ibadan is CrossBoundary Energy Nigeria Limited’s biggest project in Nigeria so far, Marlynie Moodley, global head of communications said in a WhatsApp conversation with BusinessDay, Thursday. The commissioning took place early last month.
“We unlock capital to provide cleaner, cheaper power to enterprises in Africa,” Moodley said. “We are the only commercial owner and operator with on-the-ground experience managing solar in Africa for corporate customers.”
This fully financed solar Power Purchase Agreement is the first of its kind for a major Nigerian business customer.
The solar plant will supply approximately 1, 000 megawatts per hour (mwh) to the brewery annually, at a significant discount to their current cost of power, while reducing the site’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by over 10, 000 tonnes over the lifespan of the plant.
CrossBoundry Energy will operate the rooftop facility on behalf of Nigerian Breweries as part of a 15-year solar services agreement.
Under the agreement, Nigerian Breweries will only pay for solar power produced, receiving a single monthly bill that incorporates all maintenance, monitoring, insurance, and financing costs.
Nigerian Breweries Plc’s Ibadan operations started in 1982 and is one of Nigeria’s largest factories. Established in 1946, Nigerian Breweries Plc. runs eight other production facilities across Nigeria, and is working to expand its use of clean energy in each of these locations.
Nigerian Breweries move to solar makes the Ibadan brewery the only one in Nigeria that is producing beverages with clean energy.
Another project that the company has completed in Nigeria includes the Jabi Lake Mall, Abuja slightly smaller than this one. This was completed last year.
In this off-grid project, CrossBoundary worked on the rooftop of the Jabi Lake Mall with the German company Soventix.
The latter was responsible for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the solar off-grid, which has a 600mw capacity.
As is customary with CrossBoundary Energy projects, Actis, the owner of the Jabi Lake Mall, will not participate in the financing of the project.
It will only pay a monthly invoice including maintenance, monitoring, and insurance costs over a period of 15 years. The installation would avoid CO2 emissions of 13, 000 tonnes.
Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja earned CrossBoundary Energy the winner of the African Solar Industry Association’s commercial and industrial (C&I) project in Africa for 2020.
