Starsight Energy expands into East Africa

Starsight Energy is delighted to announce its expansion into East Africa via the acquisition of a 50% stake in the East African operations of Premier Solar Group, a market-leading Commercial & Industrial (C&I) solar company with a focus on SubSaharan Africa and South Asia. The transaction will see the creation of Starsight Premier Energy Group which will offer sustainable power and cooling-as-a-service and battery storage solutions to C&I clients in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.

Premier Solar Solutions, the Kenyan subsidiary of Premier Solar Group, is already a leading player in the Kenyan C&I solar sector with five delivered projects totalling 2.7 MW, eight projects totalling 8.8 MW currently in execution, and a pipeline of a further 20 MW in Kenya. Furthermore, expansion into Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda is planned for 2021 and 2022.

Starsight Energy is the leading C&I solar power provider in West Africa with 41 MW of installed generating capacity, 33 MWh of battery storage, and 16,320 HP in cooling capacity across 547 sites in Nigeria and Ghana. Premier Solar Group brings international experience delivering endto-end distributed solar PV solutions to C&I clients in East Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and the UAE. The new entity, Starsight Premier Energy Group, will offer clients technology-enabled power and cooling-as-a-service and battery storage solutions that significantly reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions while boosting customer profitability.

Rupesh Hindocha, founder and CEO of Premier Solar Group, has been appointed Chairman and CEO of Starsight Premier Energy Group. Rajat Surey, Head of Projects and Technical at Premier Solar Group, has been appointed CTO.

“We are excited to be partnering with Premier Solar Group in East Africa. The newly formed company will deliver significant financial capacity to the region’s energy efficiency market and offer new and existing clients an unprecedented opportunity to scale their sustainable power, cooling, and storage systems,” said Starsight Energy CEO Tony Carr.

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“Starsight Premier Energy Group will combine Starsight’s industry-leading service and technology with Premier Solar Group’s established footprint in Kenya. We look forward to bringing our unparalleled service and 99.9% uptime guarantee to new C&I clients in the region,” Carr said.

“Following our recent expansion into Ghana, this investment marks a significant step in Starsight Energy’s growth story as the pan-African power and cooling-as-a-service sector moves further toward consolidation. Starsight is actively seeking more partners in this space across the continent. We are grateful for the ongoing and expanded support from our equity investors, Helios Investment Partners and African Infrastructure Investment Managers,” he said.

Premier Solar Group CEO Hindocha welcomed the partnership with Starsight Energy in East Africa.

“We knew instantly that Starsight would be the right partner for us because of their reputation for exceptional customer service, innovation, and sustainability. We look forward to continuing to deliver the standard of service and efficiency that has come to define the Starsight Energy and Premier Solar Group brands,” Hindocha said.

Anyababa Ikem, Investment Manager at African Infrastructure Investment Managers, said they are proud of their investment in Starsight Energy and believe that the transaction only begins to scratch the surface of market demand for C&I solar solutions in Africa.

“Further expansion into some of the fastest growing African markets was a natural next step for Starsight, which has come to define the industry standard for distributed solar and cooling solutions in West Africa,” Ikem said.

Tosin Awoyinka, Senior Vice President at Helios Investment Partners, said Starsight Energy has become a market leader in West Africa because of its technology, service, and value proposition.

“The East African market represents an opportunity for Starsight to further demonstrate the universality of its power, storage, and cooling solutions. We look forward to supporting Starsight Premier Energy Group as it becomes the market leader in East Africa,” Awoyinka said.

Founded in 2015, Starsight Energy is the leading technology-enabled African Commercial & Industrial (C&I) energy-as-a-service provider. It has deployed 41 MW of installed generating capacity, 33 MWh of battery storage, and 16,320 HP in cooling capacity across 547 sites in all Nigerian states and Ghana.

Premier Solar Group, founded in 2017, is part of a larger group of renewable energy development companies, operating for the past seven years with financing and development experience on more than 60 MW of projects across Africa, Middle East and South Asia (including 30 MW in solar).