Huawei has launched its Next-Generation Mini Grid “iPowerCube-S” solution to provide reliable, green, affordable power supply for people’s livelihoods and production in areas without main power connection or unstable power supply. This iPowerCube-S is a distributed power solution that integrates solar, grid, diesel generator and battery storage. It features one-stop delivery, fast deployment, and optimal LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity).
The launch conference, which held in Abuja, Nigeria at the Huawei office, on the 21st of April, 2021 was witnessed on-site by the representative of the Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Engr. Ahmad Salihijo, in person of the Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF), Dr. Sanusi Ohiare, the MD/CEO, Green Village Electricity (GVE) Projects Limited, Engr Ifeanyi Orajaka, the Chief Growth Officer, Havenhill Synergy Limited, Mr. Oluwatobi Soyombo, and the Huawei Nigeria Enterprise Business Managing Director, Mr. Michael Zhuang. Online attendees included the CEO, Solar Centric Technologies Limited, Adetunji Iromini and many solar developers and End-users.
At the launch, Havenhill Synergy Limited, one of Nigeria’s Top solar developers, signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Huawei Technologies Company Nigeria Limited for the Huawei Mini-grid Solution to be adopted in its Phase 1 mini-grid project covering 22 sites to provide reliable power supply for more than 70,000 people in remote areas and improve the living conditions of the locals.
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Speaking at the launch, Mr. Michael Zhuang, Huawei Nigeria Enterprise Business Managing Director, stated that “Huawei has continuously supported Nigeria to improve the electricity access rate for remote area and reduce the electricity cost for commercial & Industry customers in Nigeria. In 2015, Huawei donated Nigeria’s first Mini Grid power station to the Ministry of Electricity, which is still providing stable electricity to local residents in Shimankar community of Plateau State.”
He added that “Huawei partnered with Green Village Electricity (GVE) Projects Limited, one of Nigeria’s top developers, to build a 234KW Mini Grid Power station to provide reliable electricity to 1,972 Households, 273 Commercial Users, 5 Productive Users and 19 Public Users in the community to improve the socio-economic life of the community.”
Engr. Ifeanyi acknowledged that high level investment in Research & Development and innovation is the bedrock of Huawei’s success story so far. He went on to inform the audience that GVE in partnership with Huawei installed the single largest minigrid plant presently in Nigeria at Shimankar village in Plateau state with a total capacity of 334kW. He stated that “before the commencement of this project, GVE called for solutions from major OEMS with key emphasis on solutions that meets the following requirements – Scalabilty, modularity in design and fast deployment. After much review the Huawei solution fulfilled all these requirements.”
“GVE is quite satisfied with the performance of the Huawei PowerCube 5000 system deployed at Shimankar village and are quite willing to enagage with Huawei for other upcoming projects. We call for more collaboration with Huawei in the area of capacity development for their teeming Engineers and technicians. Once again we congratulate Hauwei for the succesful launch of this next generation mini-grid solution.” Engr. Ifeanyi added.
Speaking on behalf of the Managing Director of Rural Electrification Agency (REA), Engr. Ahmad Salihijo, the Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund (REF), Dr. Sanusi Ohiare stated that “This is a timely development for the Renewable Energy Industry and the Power sector at large as this aligns very much with the renewable energy efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, being implemented by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA). In the past, Huawei Technologies have delivered mini-grid products & solutions ranging from Modular Inverters, Lithium Ion Batteries & Network Monitoring systems for some of our programs like the REF 1 call and Performance Based Grants.”
“The match towards total digital transformation of industries globally has given rise to innovative initiatives. We believe this innovative product launch by Huawei will provide an open platform to discuss how advanced digital technology and management can help lower the cost of investments in the renewable energy space by our teeming developers and partners, which will give rise to lower tariffs and quality of service. We therefore look forward to a more fruitful collaboration with Huawei as a leading global ICT solutions provider in providing more efficient and cost effective solutions for the industry which aligns with your vision of – From Green Power Generation to Efficient Power Consumption, Leading Energy Digitalization for a Smart and Sustainable World.” Dr. Sanusi added.
Speaking about Huawei’s contribution to the Commercial & Industrial (C&I), Mr. Michael Zhuang stated that “Huawei Smart Inverter is used in the Jabi Lake Mall 609KW Solar Hybrid project, which is the first solar powered shopping mall in Nigeria. The project also won the C&I Project of the Year 2020 from Africa Solar Industry Association (AFSIA). The roof PV plant generates approximately 850 MWh green and economic power per year to cut electricity costs. This also cuts Jabi Lake Mall’s reliance on polluting diesel generators and will reduce carbon emissions by over 13,000 tones.”
Mr. Adetunji Iromini, CEO, Solar Centric Technologies Limited, who attended online, congratulated Huawei for “getting deeply involved in proffering solutions for the electricity access challenge in Nigeria.”
“Our experience with Huawei shows a company which delivers value and guarantee comfort for the customers. We consider the followings as what distinguishes Huawei from others – Top notch delivery capabilities, Readiness, support and customization of solutions. The iPoweCube-S is set to change the market dynamics by driving down the cost of investments and tariff. We look forward to cracking the residential market space with this new solution. We congratulate Huawei once again for the successful launch of this solution.” Mr. Adetunji added.
Mr. Michael stated that “in the future, Huawei will continue to innovate and cooperate openly. Huawei aims to become the most trusted solar power solution provider in Nigeria. Huawei is not only focused on providing high quality and best LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) solution. As a Fortune Global 500 company (we presently rank 49th), with our continuous presence both globally and in Nigeria, Huawei will also provide the effective project delivery support, capacity development and top notch operation & maintenance support services to the developers and end-users. Huawei’s ultimate vision is to bring reliable, green and affordable power to every industry, organization, and home, to bridge the electricity divide.”
At a global level, the percentage of people with access to electricity has been steadily increasing over the last few decades, but there are still deficits, according to statistics over 940 million do not have access to electricity. For example, in Nigeria, 80 million people still live in areas without power supply from the grid. Even in areas with the grid, the power supply stability is poor, and the power shortage problem persists, affecting the normal life of residents and restricting the development of local industrial and commercial economies. To solve the power supply problem, gasoline and diesel generators are widely used in the local area, which has caused high electricity cost and environmental pollution.
Huawei iPowerCube-S intelligent Minigrid solution consists of the PV generation system, lithium battery energy storage system, efficient conversion system, and intelligent monitoring system. It uses power electronics, digital sensing, and intelligent collaboration technologies to implement efficient conversion between solar power generation systems and lithium battery intelligent energy storage systems. Compared with traditional solutions, the iPowerCube-S features one-stop solution, simplified deployment, reliable operation, and intelligent O&M. Full outdoor design, building-free, shortening the deployment period by more than 75%. It features a Modular Design, flexible capacity expansion, Lithium-ion battery, longer lifetime, best TCO, Intelligent Multi-energy, AI Scheduling to Maximizes Power Efficiency, and Intelligent Remote Monitor System, Onsite Inspection Reduce 75%. With the innovation technologies, the cost of photovoltaic power generation continues to decrease. Photovoltaic (PV) has been proved to be a better alternative power supply than gasoline and diesel generators, to implement low-cost, green, and inclusive power supply.
Huawei has continued to increase its research and development in off-grid scenarios to continuously improve product reliability and reduce LCOE (Levelized cost of electricity) of Mini-grid solution in Nigeria. It is believed that this effort will support Nigeria to increase its electricity access rate and reduce the electricity cost for residents and Commercial & Industrial (C&I) customers in Nigeria. Huawei String Inverter has the leading market share in the last six consecutive years, with a total shipment of 130 GW.
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