VFlowTech and Sing Fuels form joint venture to drive clean energy transition in Africa – pv magazine International
Scott P. Arroyo
4 min read
VFlowTech, a Singapore-based energy storage solutions provider that manufactures efficient and low-cost modular vanadium redox flow batteries, and Sing Fuels, a global energy trading company, today announced their new joint venture to meet the needs of the rapidly developing energy storage market in Africa through sustainable microgrids.
Under the new VFlowTech Africa entity, the two Singapore-based companies will sign power purchase agreements with mobile network operators, mining companies and other infrastructure owners to provide clean energy as as service, and will sell and distribute their vanadium redox flow utility scale batteries. in the African market.
VFlowTech Africa has set ambitious plans to accelerate the transition to renewable energy in the country. It will help deliver a net zero future by providing affordable and green energy solutions, which include the design and deployment of sustainable microgrid systems. By deploying its renewable energy battery storage systems, VFlowTech Africa will enable the storage of energy generated from variable or intermittent energy sources such as solar or wind. This energy is integrated into an autonomous renewable micro-grid to meet rural electrification needs.
Dr. Avishek Kumar, co-founder and CEO of VFlowTech, said, “Sustainable microgrids are the future of energy and a critical part of any fight against climate change. More importantly, improving access to electricity will have a positive impact on the overall quality of life as it also affects access to technology and to all forms of social and economic activities. This covers health care, education, agriculture and finance. Energy is one of the major challenges facing Africans today. Previously, access to electricity required massive investments and infrastructure, but Vanadium Flow technology solves these problems thanks to its very low cost of ownership. Installing renewable microgrids is much more affordable than traditional energy infrastructure. Traditional battery technologies, such as lead-acid and lithium-ion, are not suitable for long-term energy storage because they suffer from performance degradation and thermal runaway and pose serious battery life problems. security.
Vikash Dhanuka, CEO of Sing Fuels, said, “We wanted to deliver targeted solutions that will benefit larger communities as part of our decarbonization efforts. This partnership with VFlowTech to build renewable microgrid solutions allows us to offset carbon emissions from the marine industry. It will also have a wider impact on improving people’s livelihoods as we drive rural electrification in Africa and help communities in the region go diesel-free.
The financial impact of COVID has made basic electricity services unaffordable for an additional 30 million people, the majority of whom are in Africa, according to the The energy progress report published in June 2021 by the International Energy Agency (IEA), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO). Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia had the largest electricity access deficits. Although 90% of the world’s population has access to electricity, 759 million people live without electricity, including 9 out of 10 in sub-Saharan Africa.
Microgrids are self-contained, self-contained electrical installations that provide electricity to remote areas that are not connected to a central grid or have unreliable electricity supplies. By decentralizing electricity distribution with renewable micro-grids, VFlowTech Africa will help generate and distribute electricity at an affordable rate in partnership with Independent Power Producers (IPPs). This will mitigate rising electricity costs or high costs of setting up infrastructure for centralized power generation.
VFlowTech’s batteries have an expected life of 25 years and are proven to have one of the safest and most environmentally friendly battery technologies. Unlike lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, the battery storage power (kW) and energy (kWh) of the VFlowTech can be scaled based on battery size and volume of electrolyte stored in the tanks respectively. Other benefits include long-lasting energy storage capabilities where the battery can operate for infinite cycles without loss of capacity or electrolyte degradation. With VFlowTech’s unique IP on electrolytic additive, its vanadium redox flow batteries can operate at much wider temperatures than others.
Vida Technologies, part of the Sing Fuels Group, will lead market expansion for VFlowTech Africa through strong partnership with major telecom operators in Africa (Airtel, Vodafone, MTN, Tigo, Telma, Econet and many more) and independent power producers. VFlowTech will provide operational microgrids to businesses in Africa by providing affordable and stable electricity 24/7. VFlowTech manufactures redox flow battery energy storage systems that offer low cost, long life storage modular battery. VFlowTech’s motto includes three key modular products: 5kW/30kWh, 10kW/100kWh, 100kW/500kWh systems, which can be scaled to multiple MWh.
