Hello there again,
We trust this meets your business is doing well. One of the areas we have mostly received concerns from our new clients who are mostly just beginning their journey into switching to renewables is in the procurement of quality. It is usually this challenge that leads them to us in the first place. If you, like our new clients, have been wondering how to begin your transition to renewable energy, and also, if you will like to know how to get good, quality, clean energy products, then read on.

Before I continue, I would like to put it out there that Energy Projects Africa is your one-stop solution if you need a partner in helping your business procure the best energy products, tailored-specific to your business. We also run feasibility studies and analyses for your businesses to help you realize the best products that will enhance energy efficiency for your business while informing you about the best practices to facilitate a productive and less-cumbersome working environment.

Now, without further ado, what are the challenges in procuring quality energy products and how can you surmount them? Well, as I have mentioned above, the easiest way would be to partner with experts like us to help you deal with these challenges, while you focus on other intricate aspects of your business. However, perhaps, you’d like to have a knowledge of the process, or maybe you would even like to procure these energy materials yourself. If this is the case, you will still need the guidance of professionals like us. Not to worry, we got you.

It is true that every business and household needs energy to function, be more productive, and eventually be more profitable. The more economic energy is, the more businesses get to function, and the more the potential for profit increases.

It is due to this situation that experts have advised businesses and households to opt for renewable energy. Renewable energy not only ensures that business owners spend less than they will on conventional energy options, but they also get to optimize their energy use for more production. Given the situation of energy in Subsaharan Africa where 609 million people still do not have access to electricity, clean energy solutions make so much sense. Your businesses can thrive 50% more efficiently when clean energy is used as your main source of energy. Furthermore, it becomes more plausible and even productive when one considers clean energy options such as mini-grids as a source of energy for communities. Changing the narrative of the over 80% of Subsaharan Africans living in rural areas that do not have access to energy. Yet, the first step into this journey lies in getting quality, sturdy and reliable energy products.



CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN CLEAN ENERGY PROCUREMENT

GAINING APPROVAL FROM YOUR ORGANIZATION DECISION-MAKERS

The first challenge in procuring and securing quality clean energy materials or generating a clean energy procurement plan across your organization is in collecting the approval of every external and internal decision-maker in your company. The solution to this challenge would be to rationalize the benefits of your organization switching to renewable energy. Some of these benefits include:

Reducing the carbon emission level of your organization.
Although Africa is one of the lowest carbon-emitting areas in the world, contributing only 4% of CO2 emissions, every organization still has a responsibility to reduce the rate to as low as possible. What this means is that our environment will only be considered safe when there is little to no carbon emission.

In the 4th Chapter of Brooking’s Combating Climate Change, a report titled, Africa Can Play a Leading Role In The Fight Against Climate Change, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala writes:

“Research from the New Climate Economy shows that bold climate action could deliver at least $26 trillion in global economic benefits between now and 2030. It could also generate over 65 million new low-carbon jobs by 2030, a number equivalent to the combined workforces of the United Kingdom and Egypt today; avoid over 700,000 premature deaths from air pollution compared with business-as-usual, and generate an estimated $2.8 trillion in government revenues in 2030 through subsidy reform and carbon pricing alone.”


Your company, in the bid to adopt clean energy solutions, would be contributing to the global fight against climate change. This would not only give your business the credibility it needs, but it will make clients be endeared towards your businesses as people have a tendency to patronize businesses who show their concern for environmental and social issues. Also, getting in contact with investors will be easy in this situation, as more people feel comfortable investing in organizations they can trust.

Reduce Dependence on Fossil Fuel and Diversify Energy Source.
As previously stated, energy is important to every business, and many business owners always pay attention to the source of their energy. In Africa, business owners rely on fossil fuels and mainstream sources. However, these sources not only harm the environment, but there are also grossly unreliable. It is for this reason that many parts of Africa do not have access to reliable energy, and the parts that do, pay a lot of money for it. Relying on renewable energy introduces your business to reliable and economic sources of energy. Depending on solar power or wind power easily exposes your businesses to long-lasting and durable power supply. So long as the sun stays in the sky or the wind hovers through, you will always have access to energy.

We can learn from the situation in Tanzania. Tanzania started a hybrid mini-grid project in 2008, making the country one of the earliest Sub-saharan countries to consider switching to renewable energy. By 2020, the country had 209 installed mini-grids that produced 2,371 MW of power, contributing to 15% of the country’s power options. Majority of the project were solar or solar hybrid minigrids.




Using Tanzania as a case-study, one easily realizes how adoption of clean energy, and the procurement of quality clean energy products can enhance productivity and also diversify energy solutions for your community and businesses.

MARKET COMPLEXITIES.
Many industries have unstable market structures, and if a business wishes to remain productive, then they are required to always put market changes into consideration when making decisions. While businesses within Africa have the option to choose their renewable energy generation providers, some other companies do not, depending on the policies in the political geographical regions they are located.

In situations where renewable energy is not available through the grid, as is in most parts of Africa, customers would have to provide their own clean energy source, either through rooftop solar system, a solar mini-grid, or a wind farm (The options are endless). Yet, customers might find it easier to rely on experts who have ample experiences in the procurement of these kind of facilities as these systems are quite too complex for individuals to site, permit and evaluate economically mainly because the regulation, costs and service charges of running these systems vary across states.

Also there is the need for ample feasibility to study to detect if you building is suitable enough for the kind of clean energy system you need, and if not, what kind of sustainable power generation will be suitable for your company. This is why Energy Project Africa has been considered as a reliable partner for many businesses across Africa in not only procuring their renewable energy needs, but also conducted useful feasibility analysis and ensuring our clients practice satisfactory energy efficient strategies.

As professionals, we put the market situation of our costumers into consideration when advising them the clean energy solutions that they should opt for. This is because we are well aware of the intricacies that comes to bear when dealing with markets in order to generate profit. Our goal is always to ensure that your energy needs are met and provide a platform that your business functions on an optimal level. Therefore, if you have problems with navigating your way through an unstable market and procuring your energy solutions at affordable prices, follow any or both of this two steps:

Ensure simplified, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-implement green energy contracts. This can be check-listed when you enlist the services of professionals in the field of clean energy. We can provide you with sturdy feasibility analysis so you do not have to worry about getting involved with ambiguous contracts.
Work with professionals who will always provide you with cost-effective options in clean energy procurement, so that you can always have strategies to choose from, irrespective of how unstable your market is. Energy Project Africa can help provide you with a wide range of renewable energy strategies that will make your clean energy procurement journey both easy and interesting.



Energy Projects Africa (EPA) is a forefront energy company located in Lagos, Nigeria with expertise in procuring energy materials and feasibility studies. We also include the installation of solar mini and micro-grids, and other energy efficient solutions. Also, EPA provides energy products and equipment for corporate and institutional clients for their daily project and operational needs. If you need a partner with hands-on local expertise in the Nigerian and African Energy industry or any of our bespoke solutions/services, kindly visit www.energy-projects.africa to learn more.