redT energy plc (AIM:RED), the energy storage technology company, is pleased to announce that its 15kW-75kWh energy storage machine is now fully operational at the Thaba Eco Hotel (“Thaba”) site in South Africa. This is the third commercial energy storage machine redT has connected to the grid in South Africa.
The Thaba project is the largest flow machine to be successfully installed at a commercial site as part of a solar mini-grid system in South Africa. Thaba is a remote resort and suffers from a weak local grid connection, making power cuts a frequent occurrence. The machine sits alongside Thaba’s 100kWp of solar generation, enabling the resort to reduce its reliance on diesel generators, creating significant savings on fuel costs and reducing carbon emissions as a result.
By timeshifting excess energy produced from the solar panels during the day for use at night, when guests need electricity the most, redT are creating a cheap, reliable and sustainable source of energy for Thaba’s guests and staff.
The project has already yielded substantial results for Thaba. Since the mini-grid system came online, it has generated 13MWh of renewable energy, reducing the need for Thaba to import energy from the grid, leading to significant cost savings and a sizeable reduction in the level of greenhouse gases omitted by the resort. The project is expected to result in 175MWh of renewable energy generation per annum and a yearly reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 143 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e). In addition to this, the machine will also be used for demand charge avoidance, significantly reducing the site’s costs of importing electricity from the grid at peak times.
The project will be a key asset for redT in South Africa and the site will be used to demonstrate the environmental and financial benefits redT’s patented vanadium redox flow machine technology will offer other renewable asset owners in the region. A formal launch event at Thaba will take place in due course, details of which will be made available on the Company’s website.
Scott McGregor, CEO, redT energy commented:
“Accelerated growth of low cost solar power in Africa has opened up a significant market opportunity for us, as our robust energy storage machines are an ideal solution to unlock more solar for use by customers in off-grid or weak-grid markets. We are proud to lead the successful deployment of flow machines into essential energy infrastructure in Africa with our redT machines established now in South Africa and also enroute to Botswana.
In sub-Saharan Africa alone there are c.580 million people with no access to electricity. Unlocking more solar using robust long duration energy storage machines is a key driver to ensuring a low cost secure power supply to the continent of Africa.”