Azelio – a public Swedish  firm specialising in thermal energy storage – has agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Swedish sustainable energy solutions company STELLA Futura, to work together on setting up a small-scale commercial project in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim is to demonstrate Azelio’s technology in a real-world commercial set-up, paving the way for broader regional implementation together with STELLA Futura.

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The first project will demonstrate Azelio’s solution by distributing round-the-clock renewable power to off-grid communities, storing energy from solar power and dispatching it on demand. The 50 kilowatt-electric (kWe) capacity plant is expected to become operational in Q3 2020. Two potential sites are under evaluation for the project – one in Ghana and one in Togo.

 

Around-the-clock renewable power storage

 

Both parties’ intention is for STELLA Futura – an independent energy solution provider – to become one of Azelio’s sales, installation and O&M partners in the Sub-Saharan African region. STELLA Futura is interested in Azelio’s technology for long storage hours applications, given that the latter’s aluminum-based storage dispatches electricity when needed around the clock. Fully charged, the storage system produces electricity for 13 hours at nominal power.

 

STELLA Futura has several projects in the pipeline from 2021–2023 where Azelio’s technology can be used. The forecasted power of these projects is 6.5 MWe with a storage capacity of 85 MWhe.

 

“Energy poverty is holding back individuals and societies”

 

“Energy poverty is a common problem in Sub-Saharan Africa holding back individuals and societies. We have the ability to help overcome that problem in a sustainable way by redefining power. Demonstrating our technology in a real-world setting builds the knowledge and experience necessary for a roll-out of our solution on a larger scale,” said Azelio’s CEO Jonas Eklind.

 

“We see electrification as a society enabler,” added STELLA Futura’s Group CEO Ulrika Tornerefelt. “Our system designs create community growth in all sectors described in the Global SDGs. By partnering with the best storage solution providers in the market and having the deep competence of designing and integrating sustainable energy systems in combination with understanding and offering feasible business models for this region, we create real impact.” 

 

The signing of the MoU took place under the presence of Magnus Rehle, Board Member at the Sweden-Sub Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce (SSACC) in Stockholm. “We are really happy that our members are bringing cleantech solutions to Africa,” enthused Magnus Rehle.

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The parties will negotiate final commercial terms after having chosen the project sites.