Off Grid Electric (OGE), a solar startup and distributed energy company in Africa, has formed partnership with EDF, an integrated energy company, to install and maintain solar kits for rural and peri-urban households.
This is the first, large-scale operational partnership between a multinational energy company and a leading off-grid solar company, according to Off Grid Electric.
Nearly 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have access to electricity, with the electrification rate as low as 14.2 percent in rural areas.
Off Grid Electric provides affordable solar energy to households and businesses in rural Tanzania and Rwanda – and in 2015 they added solar systems to more homes in Tanzania than the national utility company added to the grid.
Both companies are kicking off a pilot in Côte d’Ivoire this quarter with plans to reach 2 million households by 2020, and later expand into additional countries in the region.
This partnership has the potential to set the tone for the energy industry at large. As social entrepreneurship and environmentalism take center stage, it’s indicative of a shift among big energy companies, according to Off Grid Electric officials.
edoitor@greentechlead.com