NEWS

DISTRIBUTED Power Africa (DPA) has moved into Zambia to roll out hybrid solar solutions for Commercial and Industrial businesses, on a lease financing basis.

Distributed Power Africa is a subsidiary of the Econet Group of companies, which is a Pan African Technology, and Telecommunications group operating in more than 20 African countries through subsidiaries. It has investments in Africa, Europe, South and North America and the East Asia Pacific Rim.

According to the statement, the renewable energy company’s offer comes at an opportune time when the country continues to face long hours of load-shedding.

DPA stated that last year it accelerated deployment of green energy into sub-Sahara Africa, with notable solar projects in South Africa, Kenya, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

“Now the fastest growing solar energy solutions provider in Africa, the company has a pipeline of 450MW across their markets. They primarily target commercial and industrial customers with solar systems from 5kW to 5MW, custom designed to power wide-ranging businesses, including telecom towers, offices, schools, clinics, manufacturers, estates and mines,” reads the statement. “In the last year DPA has showcased some milestones projects for their customers, including Liquid Telecom, Schweppes, Total, UNESCO, Aga Khan Kuze and Ecobank. Recently, the company introduced a COVID-19 Emergency Power Solution to support national health delivery institutions across sub-Sahara Africa. The company also has strategic alliances, with technical partners; Tesla, EDF (Electricite de France) and Canadian Solar.”

DPA Africa chief executive officer Norman Moyo stated that businesses in Africa were increasingly interested in affordable and reliable energy.

“And due to the associated financial savings and environmental dividend, the replacement of generators with solar technology is a growing trend. We have received tremendous interest from commercial and industrial players in Zambia, including banks, beverage manufacturers and malls, and we remain focussed on providing solar power with Lithium Ion battery technology to power up businesses efficiently,” stated Moyo.

DPA stated that although solar energy was the fastest and easiest to deploy, it was widely believed to be an expensive alternative due to the initial capital.

“Distributed Power Africa provides solar solutions on monthly installments, with zero upfront investment. As part of the lease, DPA takes full responsibility for engineering, procurement, installation, monitoring, maintenance, warranties and insurance, and guarantees customers zero technical risk,” reads the statement.