Tag: Renewable energy

Nestle invests US$1.3m in installation of private solar station in Morocco in quest for net zero emissions

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MOROCCO – Multinational food manufacturing giant Nestle has inaugurated a private solar station in Morocco at the city of El Jadida in line with its focus on reducing green-gas emissions. The station covers a land of 7,000 square meters adjacent to the company’s factory operating some 2,600photovoltaic panels to produce 1.7 gigawatts of electricity per year, eliminating more than one million kilograms of CO2. Morocco’s Minister of Energy Aziz Rabbah at the inauguration ceremony highlighted that Nestle’s installation of the solar station was in line with the county’s strategy that…

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Two subsidiaries of East African Breweries Limited in Kenya seek power generation licence

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KENYA – Kenya Breweries Limited (KBL) and East Africa Maltings Limited (EAML), subsidiaries of East African Breweries Limited (EABL) are seeking regulatory approval for self-electricity generation to backup supply from the national grid, Kenya Power. In a notice to the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA), the two sister companies have indicated that the move was necessitated by the regular power disruptions it experiences leading to stalling of their operations. “The purpose of the electric power generation is for own use as backup during power outages from the national electricity…

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Nigeria’s largest egg producer Premium Poultry powers its facility with renewable energy

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NIGERIA – Premium Poultry Farms, Nigeria’s largest egg producer has entered into an agreement with renewable energy supplier, Rensource Energy and Empower New Energy, an impact investment company based in Norway to install a solar photovoltaic system at its facility. The 700 KWp solar photo-voltaic plant will generate 1 gigawatt hour of clean energy annually, saving up to 25 000 tons of CO2 in its lifetime, expected to operate for at least 25 years, thus contribute to Nigeria’s fight against air pollution. “We take immense pride in being good stewards…

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Kenyan energy startup SunCulture raises US$14m to finance distribution of solar power water pumps for irrigation

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KENYA – Kenyan start-up SunCulture, a provider of solar water pumps for irrigation, has raised US$14 million from Energy Access Ventures (EAV), Electricité de France (EDF), Acumen Capital Partners (ACP) and Dream Project Incubators (DPI). This funding will be used to disseminate its solutions in seven African countries i.e. Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal, Togo, and Ivory Coast. The young company has carried out the financial mobilisation which has enabled it to secure the US$14 million. “This equity raise puts us in a position to dramatically accelerate our growth and…

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IFC partners Agricultural bank of Egypt to help farmers access financing for solar irrigation

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EGYPT – IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Agricultural bank of Egypt (ABE) announced a partnership to help Egyptian farmers access financing for purchase of solar irrigation systems, reducing their reliance on diesel-powered generators. Through the partnership, IFC will help ABE build capacity and design new financial products to enable farmers, most of whom lack direct access to grid electricity, to purchase and install the sustainably powered facilities. This is aimed to reduce production cost, provide clean energy while boosting productivity. “Expanding the use of solar…

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Zimbabwe Tea producer Tanganda invests US$15m in solar power plant

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ZIMBABWE – Zimbabwe’s largest grower and producer of tea and coffee, Tanganda Tea Company Limited is set to complete the construction of US$15m solar plant to power its production facilities. Tanganda Tea, a subsidiary of Meikles Limited, specializes in production and packaging of tea and coffee both for the domestic and foreign markets. The company also exports macadamia and avocado. According to reports by Business Times, the plant is scheduled to be completed by December this year and is targeted to produce 7.55 megawatts. Zimbabwe has been battling power shortages…

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Bidco Africa sets up futuristic electric infrastructure incorporating IoT functionality

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KENYA – Bidco Africa Limited, leading consumer good company in East Africa has partnered with Schneider Electric, provider of energy and automation digital solutions, to install a smart electrification solution at its latest production site at Industrial Park in Ruiru-Kiambu county, Kenya. For the past three years, Bidco has set out to build one of the largest production facilities in the region using latest technology on 80-acre industrial park on the outskirts of Nairobi. The factory is home to the company’s instant noodles, Nitrofilled Juices, Sodas, Energy drinks and Mineral…

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Cargill partners with Virent to explore use of corn in production of biofuels

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USA – Cargill has partnered with bio-energy company Virent to explore the use of biobased fuels and chemicals in processing activities as an environmentally friendly source of energy. Under the collaboration, the two companies will study Cargill’s use of corn dextrose as a feedstock to Virent’s BioForming technology to produce “drop-in” low-carbon biofuels and biochemicals. Virent’s BioForming technology uses sugars found in plants as a feedstock to produce drop-in renewable gasoline and jet fuel, as well as lower carbon biochemicals, including bio-paraxylene, a key raw material for producing 100% renewable…

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Ball Corporation signs virtual power purchase agreements strengthening renewable energy goals

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EUROPE – Ball Corporation, a provider of sustainable packaging solutions for beverage and food industry, has announced that it has executed two virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs) in Europe – one for the Corral Nuevo project in Spain with wpd and one for the Brattmyrliden project in Sweden with Falck Renewables – for a total of 93.4 megawatts (MW) of additional wind energy. These agreements are a testament to Ball’s long-term commitment to achieve and maintain 100% renewable energy in Europe and will allow the company to address approximately 63%…

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McDonald’s launches its new restaurant with renewable energy onsite to cover its energy needs

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USA – McDonald’s, a fast food company, has completed construction of a first-of-its-kind Net Zero Energy restaurant designed to create enough renewable energy on-site to cover 100 per cent of its energy needs on a net annual basis. The newly remodelled building is located on the west side of Disney’s property on Buena Vista Drive. For an initial “soft-launch” period, the restaurant is open only for drive thru and delivery service. The new site at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida is set to act as a learning hub for McDonald’s to test solutions for…

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