Marlon dos Santos (left) with some other officials
Phanes Group, an integrated end-to-end solar provider headquartered in Dubai, has announced Marlon Dos Santos and his 50 MW Kitaka Solar Project in Mozambique as the winner of its first Phanes Group Solar Incubator programme.
The evaluation session was held recently at the “Unlocking Solar Capital: Africa 2017” event in Abidjan.
Three shortlisted finalists presented their projects to a live panel, which ultimately selected Asis Energy Solutions’ proposal as most aligned with the competition’s mission to develop solar energy projects with a strong Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) component.
The Phanes Group Solar Incubator, which identifies PV projects of potential in sub-Saharan Africa and provides them with access to funding, and commercial and technical knowledge, was held in partnership with Hogan Lovells, Proparco, responsAbility, RINA Consulting and Solarplaza.
The inaugural Phanes Group Incubator received applications for solar PV projects at the volume of almost 1 GW across 15 sub-Saharan African countries.
The other shortlisted projects were the Akouédo Solar Project with a capacity of 2×25 MW in Côte d’Ivoire and the Solar Project in the Amhara Region of Ethiopia with a capacity 100 MW.
“We are proud and excited to announce Marlon Dos Santos as the recipient of our inaugural Solar Incubator programme. It was a close match—all the finalists presented high-quality projects with the potential to transform their respective communities,” said Martin Haupts, CEO, Phanes Group.
The winner gets the opportunity to enter into partnership with Phanes Group to co-develop and deliver a bankable project in which they will hold a long-term stake.
This partnership will include a two-month blended mentorship programme, with a four-day intensive kick-off workshop in Dubai, UAE.
There are currently more than 620 million people in sub-Saharan Africa living without electricity, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), which works to ensure global access to reliable, affordable and clean energy.
The Phanes Group Solar Incubator aims to support developers not just in the funding phase, but throughout the project development and delivery phases to ensure that important, CSR-focused projects are brought to financial close.
Phanes Group will be launching a second edition of the Phanes Group Solar Incubator next year, and welcomes interested candidates to begin to think of project proposals.
A business desk report