By Adedapo Adesanya
A hybrid solar power solutions provider, Daystar Power, has signed an agreement with Nigerian Breweries to install and operate a 4.2MWp solar plant and 2MWh battery storage system that will help the firm reduce its high energy costs.
The installation will be one of the largest solar and battery storage projects for an industrial manufacturer in Nigeria.
The hybrid solar solution will generate 5,249 MWh of electricity – 42 per cent of its daytime power consumption – every year at Nigerian Breweries’ Lagos brewery.
According to a statement, the integration of solar into the factory’s energy mix will reduce the brewery’s dependence on diesel generators to displace an estimated 31.4 million litres of diesel and offset an estimated 84,758 tons of CO2 over the installation’s 20-year lifetime.
Nigerian Breweries, a subsidiary of Heineken, is one of the country’s leading manufacturers and produces some of the most popular and iconic beverages from Star Beer to Maltina.
The agreement with Daystar to design, install, and operate a hybrid solar and battery storage installation is part of Heineken’s commitment to decarbonize its production by 2030 and its full value chain by 2040.
Speaking on the agreement, Mr Jasper Graf von Hardenberg, CEO of Daystar Power, said, “We are thrilled to sign an agreement with Nigerian Breweries for this milestone project, one of the largest in our portfolio in Nigeria. We could not be prouder to support Heineken as it accelerates its adoption of renewable energy.”
High energy costs have continued to disrupt productive activities in Africa’s most populous country as factories self-generate more than 14,000 megawatts of electricity due to poor supply from electricity distribution companies.
Data sourced from the World Bank’s Power Sector Recovery Programme said inadequate power supply costs businesses in Nigeria about $29 billion yearly.
It also observed that Nigeria had the largest number of people without access to electricity worldwide, as one in 10 people without access to electricity currently resides in Nigeria.
Dipo Olowookere