New solar mini-grids in Africa to be powered by Husk Power Systems’ $103M Series D
Summary
Countries like South Sudan, Burundi, Chad, Malawi, Burkina Faso, Madagascar and Tanzania are among some of the least electrified countries in the world and could benefit from clean energy from solar or wind.Buoyed by this new capital, Husk Power will look to evaluate expansion into some of these markets over the next couple of years, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia and Madagascar; it has so far deployed over 200 mini-grids in Nigeria and India, according to co-founder and CEO Manoj Sinha.Since its launch in 2008, when it helped pioneer the community mini-grid industry (a category of distributed renewable energy infrastructure that provides first-time access to reliable, affordable, clean and modern power), Husk Power has since evolved its business model, expanding beyond energy access to include the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables.As a result, Husk says it has matured from a pure-play mini-grid operator to an integrated platform that goes beyond just electricity sales to sales and financing of energy-efficient appliances, turnkey commercial and industrial (C&I) rooftop solar and a range of low-carbon and climate-resilient energy services, including e-mobility, agro-processing and cold storage. According to Sinha, two-thirds of the financing will be dedicated to growing its Sub-Saharan Africa footprint to bring the number of mini-grids in the region on par with what has been deployed so far in India. According to Sinha, Husk differs from others in that it targets small villages while platforms like Nuru are keener on larger towns; similarly, he argues that Husk has the lowest levelized cost of energy (LCOE) globally and uses an AI-powered algorithm to run operations.While each cleantech platform has its competitive edge, they may need to engage multiple governments instead of venturing independently if they want to scale faster, Sinha noted.I think it is possible for us to exceed even 2,500 mini-grids over the next five years. I hope so because many companies like us will have to come to the platform to execute at more than 10x scale-up rate to at least move the needle in that direction.Husk Power became EBITDA positive in the last quarter of 2022, according to Sinha. The companys growth in various aspects of its business reflects the increasing opportunity in Africas cleantech space, which has rekindled the interests of local and global investors over the past 18 months.