CNN
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Though Nigeria has huge vitality reserves, greater than 92 million folks within the nation dwell with out entry to electrical energy, based on the Worldwide Vitality Company. Those that are linked to the electrical energy grid should take care of frequent energy cuts, which value the nation $28 billion a yr – virtually 2% of its GDP.
In consequence, many Nigerians depend on petrol and diesel to gas the mills that energy their properties and companies.
However mills are noisy, costly, and pollute the air. Gasoline shortages had been a key concern in Nigeria’s latest presidential election and have made it more and more troublesome to run mills.
Entrepreneur Olugbenga Olubanjo is providing an alternate. His firm Reeddi rents out small, light-weight solar-powered batteries referred to as “Reeddi Capsules” that may energy units together with TVs, laptops and fridges.
Reeddi was one of many finalists for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, which acknowledges formidable efforts to repair environmental issues. In a podcast, the Prince of Wales stated that “the capsule could have an enormous affect on communities the place vitality poverty is a giant deal.”
Olubanjo grew up in Nigeria and says that in his time finding out engineering on the College of Ibadan, he usually needed to work on his assignments whereas contending with energy cuts. As a postgraduate, he studied on the College of Toronto, in Canada. “For the primary time in my life, I had entry to electrical energy, and I noticed my very own productiveness quadruple,” Olubanjo stated.
Usually, when calling household and associates again residence, their energy would go off, highlighting the vitality inequality. “As I had a deep understanding of the group, I felt obliged to do one thing,” he stated.
Reeddi Capsules could be purchased together with a photo voltaic panel for 199,000 Nigerian Naira (round $430) or rented from “mom-and-pop retailers” for twenty-four hours for round 50 cents, charged utilizing photo voltaic panels operated by Reeddi. Olubanjo says one battery can energy a TV for round 5 hours, or a 15-watt fan for 15 hours.
That makes it significantly costlier than utilizing mains electrical energy, but it surely’s usually cheaper than working a generator.
Joel Jewell, a dealer in Ogun State, says he makes use of the capsule most days to cost his laptop computer and cellphone. With out it, he’s pressured to depend on his generator in the course of the common energy cuts. “We generally don’t (even) get two hours of energy provide,” he stated. “And Reeddi coming is a type of a solution to prayer.”
Presently, the batteries are solely out there in Nigeria, the place Olubanjo says they’re utilized by greater than 1,600 folks, primarily in Lagos and Ogun State. However throughout the continent, greater than 600 million folks lack entry to electrical energy, based on the Worldwide Vitality Company.
Olubanjo says organizations in nations together with Uganda, Ghana and South Africa have expressed an curiosity within the Reeddi Capsule. “We’re going to strive our greatest to optimize what we have now in Nigeria earlier than we scale it to that broader a part of Africa,” he stated.
Reeddi is just not the one firm providing battery packs as a substitute for mills. UK-based Cellular Energy rents out batteries in nations together with Nigeria, Zambia and Ghana.
Anita Otubu, a senior director of Sustainable Vitality for All – a UN-affiliated group that works to enhance entry to vitality – says “corporations like Reeddi are key contributors to lowering Nigeria’s entry deficit.”
However she provides that if Reeddi is to scale up its enterprise, it might want to make the battery leases cheaper “or enhance the capability of every system, to allow Nigerians to have worth for cash after they buy such methods.”
For Olubanjo, the corporate’s largest problem is maintaining with demand, with every batch of batteries taking three to 4 months to provide. However he’s assured Reeddi can have a wider affect.
“The aim is to make the longer term (brighter) for lots of Nigerians and Africans,” he stated.
