[April 21, 2015] |
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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 projct 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 (News - Alert), 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."
About Oasis
Oasis Africa Resources Ltd. (OAR) is a wholly-owned Ghanaian company
incorporated under the Companies Code (Act 179, 1963) of Ghana and
headquartered in Accra. The company operates as an energy company with
the aim of delivering improvements to power solutions in Ghana. The
company primary objective is to establish the necessary and long
sought-after conditions to increase the share of energy sources in the
overall energy systems in Ghana.
About Azuri Technologies Ltd.
Azuri Technologies is a leading commercial provider of PayGo solar
home systems to rural off-grid communities, with the widest reach of any
provider in sub-Saharan Africa. Azuri's HQ is located in Cambridge,
United Kingdom, with staff based throughout Africa.
News from Azuri can be found at www.azuri-technologies.com/info-hub.
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