- OGEF makes a USD 230,000 investment in Alina Enèji to build and operate three meshgrids in rural Haiti using Okra Solar’s platform and equipment
- The investment will allow Alina Enèji to pilot Okra Solar’s DC mesh grid technology at scale by connecting 300 households and small businesses in the Artibonite province.
Port-au-Prince, 7 February 2022 – The Off Grid Electricity Fund (‘OGEF’ or ‘the Fund’), the renewable energy access fund for Haiti supported by the World Bank, announces it has provided a USD 230,000 investment in form of debt financing and catalytic grants to Alina Eneji to pilot mesh-grid technology at
scale.
Alina Enèji’s is a Haitian company established in 2021 to provide reliable, clean, and affordable, energy to rural households in Haiti. It launched an initial pilot of 35 households in the Dulagon area with Okra Solar, whose mesh-grid technology enables households to access clean and productive power. Alina Enèji has been leveraging Okra’s technology to offer a more flexible service to its clients, from low
power DC connections for basic consumption in standalone households, to productive power AC connections throughout networks of interconnected households. Alina Enèji, in partnership with Okra Solar and its technology, have found a way to significantly reduce the cost of building and operating its
decentralized electricity infrastructure.
The pilot by Alina Enèji will test several hypotheses about the business model’s adequacy for the Haitian market and develop learnings to implement as the company looks to quickly scale grid connections. The pilot hopes to demonstrate that mesh grids can be deployed much faster than other infrastructure solutions in rural areas; require less grant funding, therefore enabling more connections, and are capable of providing services people need at an affordable price. OGEF estimates more than 500,000 households could be connected throughout Haiti using a similar model.
Alina Enèji is working with the Haitian regulator ANARSE to evaluate how mesh grids can complement the Electricité d’Haïti (EDH) grid, accelerating the electrification of those areas, which currently cannot be reached by EDH, over the next ten years.
OGEF was launched by the Haitian Government in 2019 with the aim to electrify 200,000 households and SMEs in Haiti within 10 years. At present, fewer than one in three Haitian households have access to electricity, which is often unreliable. In rural areas, electrification rates are as low as 5%.
The Fund, managed jointly by Bamboo Capital Partners and Fonds de Développement Industriel, invests debt and equity in companies and manages grant programs that help companies offer renewable off grid energy access solutions to people in Haiti, ranging from mini grids to pay-as-you-go solar products.
OGEF is supported by World Bank and funded by the Clean Technology Fund and the Scaling up Renewable Energy Program in low-income countries (‘SREP’), which accelerate climate action by empowering transformations in clean technology, energy access, climate resilience, and sustainable forests in developing and middle-income countries.
Christian Schattenmann, Fund Manager at Bamboo Capital Partners, commented: “Alina Enèji is a start-up that is implementing an innovative approach to rural electrification that has the potential to make a huge impact to households in Haiti. I am particularly pleased that OGEF is able to help Alina
Enèji and Okra Solar in reducing the investment and operational costs per connection provided to ultimately increase access to reliable and affordable electricity”.
Stewart Hicks, Senior Advisor at Bamboo Capital Partners, added: “OGEF is delighted to be working with Alina Enèji, as it represents one of the best opportunities to electrify rural Haitian households in a time- and cost-effective way. The approach taken by Alina Enèji and Okra Solar emphasizes modularity and affordability at its core which is required to electrify rural Haiti”.
Driko Ducasse, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Alina, commented: “I am pleased, as a Haitian myself, to say that we are working towards providing a more reliable, clean, and affordable electricity alternative to Haitians. We are thankful for everyone who has assisted us to date: I would personally like to thank Mr. Dunord Sileus, the Mayor of Marchand Dessalines and the surrounding areas, for his
support and cooperation; ANARSE, the regulator, for their support and guidance; Okra Solar, our technology partner, for their assistance with the engineering, procurement and construction related to the project; Ms. Cadet (Black), our Operations Manager, for all of her hard work, perseverance and persistence; and to OGEF, who has funded the current pilot, linked us with local business partners and
provided significant value in many other ways”.
Afnan Hannan, Co-Founder and CEO of Okra Solar, commented:” The Okra Solar technology is a truly decentralized technology, benefiting from latest developments in IoT [Internet of things] which is particularly suited to Haiti. The decentralized approach makes the system more resilient to natural disasters, which unfortunately hit Haiti, and are modular allowing rapid expansion. With 100% solar power, this grid will completely avoid the cost and difficulty of buying diesel”.
About OGEF:
OGEF was launched in 2019 with the aim to electrify 200,000 households in Haiti within 10 years. The fund invests debt and equity in companies that provide renewable off grid energy access solutions to people in Haiti, ranging from mini grids to pay-as-you-go solar products. Established by the Haitian Government, OGEF is supported by World Bank and funded by the Clean Technology Fund and the Scaling up Renewable Energy Program in low-income countries (‘SREP’), which accelerate climate action by empowering transformations in clean technology, energy access, climate resilience, and sustainable forests in developing and middle-income countries. OGEF is jointly managed by Bamboo Capital Partners as the international fund manager together with the Haitian Development Finance
Institution: Fonds de Développement Industriel (FDI). For more information, please visit www.ogefhaiti.com. For further information please contact OGEF at: +509 2811-0623 / +509 2811-0624 / +509 3367-1494 / +509 3367-1496 / contact@ogefhaiti.com
About Alina Enèji:
Alina Enèji was set up in 2021 by Driko Ducasse in Chicago, Illinois. Alina Enèji seeks to provide electricity both for poorer domestic customers with limited needs, but also for SMEs that can help the local economy develop and bring jobs to the more rural areas. Alina Enèji’s aim is to provide both the electricity, but also financing solutions for the productive use equipment that will develop the local
economy and bring jobs. For further information please contact Alina Enèji at: dd@alinaeneji.com
About Okra Solar
Okra’s mission is to enable sustainable last mile energy-access around the globe. Okra’s mesh-grid technology has been used by developers in Cambodia, the Philippines, Haiti and Nigeria, to deploy clean and reliable power in remote communities using off-the-shelf solar panels and batteries that can be interconnected into scalable networks. Okra’s SaaS platform also equips energy companies with remote monitoring, maintenance insights and mobile payments, so that operators can stay informed to prevent blackouts. Okra’s work has been recognised by Forbes, TechCrunch, and the Cleantech Forum for it’s potential to create lasting impact, and its investors include Schneider Electric and TepCo Power. Okra, launched in 2016 is a tech company that supports utility companies in setting up and operating automated solar powered mesh-grids to bring energy access out to off-grid communities around the world. Okra has supplied customers in Cambodia, Philippines, Haiti and Nigeria and is operational in more than 38 communities globally. Okra’s objective is to ensure commercially sustainable last mile energy operations and enables this with an array of deep tech solutions to renewable energy-based mesh-grids which leverage plug & play design, high power output & AI & IoT enabled automation. Okra’s work has been recognised by Forbes, TechCrunch and the Cleantech Forum amongst others and their investors include energy companies Schneider Electric and Tepco Power. For further information
contact Okra at: +855 16 897 438 / callum@okrasolar.com
About Bamboo Capital Partners:
Bamboo Capital Partners (“Bamboo”) is an impact investing platform which provides innovative financing solutions to catalyse lasting impact. Bamboo bridges the gap between seed and growth stage funding through a full suite of finance options – from debt to equity – which it activates unilaterally or through strategic partnerships. Founded in 2007 by Jean-Philippe de Schrevel, Bamboo aims to
improve the lives of the world’s most marginalized communities while delivering strong financial returns. Since its inception, Bamboo has raised $450m and invested in over 30 developing countries. Its investees have positively impacted over 193 million lives and supported over 48,000 jobs, including 17,900 jobs for women. The firm has a team of 30 professionals active across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia. Bamboo also acts as the Asset Management arm of global impact firm Palladium, which operates in over 90 countries, following a strategic partnership in 2020. For more information, please visit www.bamboocp.com or follow @bamboocp.