Tesvolt Solar & Storage For Mali

• Start-up Africa Green Tec has signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Tesvolt of Germany for its solar project in Mali
• Tesvolt will provide 50 solar systems of 37 to 45 kW capacity each equipped with a 60 kWh battery storage system
• Each container costs €150,000, financed by crowd funding, which will be later covered by loans
• The use of solar power is expected to help the Mali villagers to replace diesel generators and bring down electricity cost by 86%

Germany based commercial storage systems supplier Tesvolt will provide lithium storage systems for 50 solar containers with a total capacity of 3 MWh in Mali. These storage systems will enable a reliable power supply for 25 villages in the African nation.

Tesvolt has entered an exclusive cooperation agreement with the start-up Africa Green Tec for the Mali project. The 40-feet long containers carry a 37 to 45 kW PV system each and a 60 kWh battery storage system. Energy production using these systems is said to cost €0.20 per kWh, over 86% less than the current rate of €1.50 per kWh paid for power produced through diesel generators.

Africa Green Tec's founder and MD, Torsten Schreiber, said, "For our project in Mali, we needed a reliable supplier of high-performance energy storage systems. Tesvolt shares our commitment to the decentralised, green and reliable provision of energy. And they already have a great deal of experience with the established inverter technology of the global leader SMA Solar Technology. That sealed our decision to enter into a long-term partnership with Tesvolt – together with the fact that they are also taking on the assembly and maintenance of the storage systems on site."

Each container costs €150,000, financed by crowd funding, which will be later covered by loans. The first container will be set up in the village of Djoliba, the remaining 24 villages will follow. All villages are scheduled to be electrified by 2018.

Simon Schandert, director of engineering at Tesvolt, said, "The project demonstrates the potential of solar power and storage systems in particular in remote areas of the world that aren't connected to the power grid."