Off-grid solar company BBOXX and General Electric (GE) announced on 25 September a partnership in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). BBOXX expanded into the country earlier this year, forming a partnership with Victron Energy to supply larger solar systems to businesses in Goma as well as trialling mini-grids. In June, BBOXX signed an agreement with the government to roll out 300,000-400,000 solar systems over five years.
Much of BBOXX’s activity has centred on Goma, where the logistics are simpler due to the city’s proximity to the border with Rwanda. The company has deployed a GE hybrid distributed power system in the city, which can connect up to ten customers. The first system supplies up to 30kW to the Kivu International School and more customers will be added to the system in the coming weeks.
The hybrid distributed power systems combine solar photovoltaic systems with batteries and diesel generators to provide reliable power supply. The systems will be linked to GE’s Predix digital remote monitoring and diagnostics platform and BBOXX’s cloud-based Pulse software, which manages payments and customer relations.
BBOXX chief executive Mansoor Hamayun told African Energy in June that the company would use small businesses and public institutions as anchor offtakers for mini-grids, which could then provide power to the surrounding community. The company is in the process of diversifying its offering, supplying solar home systems of 50W, business solutions of 0.5-5kW and now looking at mini-grids for larger consumers or groups of customers.
General Electric managing director of licencing Brian Selby said that “GE’s hybrid distributed power system offers flexibility to deliver fast, reliable power with a digital backbone found in utility scale power plants”. BBOXX says that it is currently providing power to around 750,000 people in Asia and Africa.
Find a power plant on our database and view the transmission network
