We have already introduced our customer Wahu! Mobility and its remarkable founder Valery Labi in detail in the past. The e-bike manufacturer designs and produces in Accra, Ghana. The demand is there, because the last mile also plays a major role in Ghana. Delivery services have been mushrooming in African metropolises since the coronavirus pandemic. All-terrain e-bikes such as those from Wahu!, which can cover 140 kilometres on a single charge and carry a payload of 150 kilos, are essential to their success. Wahu! offers its customers payment by instalments for the bikes, which cost around USD 2,000, and also conveniently arranges delivery jobs via its own app. Users become owners and thus independent entrepreneurs.
The concept is well-rounded and sustainable in many ways. The company decided that this should also apply to production itself. And this is where EWIA comes into play.
Scaling with solar? No problem!
The e-bikes are manufactured at Wahu's factory premises on Spintex Road in East Legon, Accra, just under four kilometres from EWIA's Company House. Initially, 200 bikes per month are planned, but the company, which also already operates in Lomé (Togo) and is targeting Lusaka (Zambia) and Lagos (Nigeria), wants to be able to quickly increase its output to up to 25,000 bikes per year.
To this end, we have planned, pre-financed and installed a corresponding solar system for the hall roof, which can grow in line with production so that the 42 kWp system can be expanded to 200 kWp in two to three stages. At the end of February, we began installing the system, which has now been completed and put into operation! In the meantime, the system had to be redesigned again. Having originally wanted a simple PV system to support the energy supply, the customer decided in favour of a solution that would also enable a self-sufficient power supply. Although this was a new hall roof, the load-bearing capacity and wind loads of the roof had to be reinforced again. Something that presented even experienced structural engineers with challenges.
We are really excited to see how the story of Wahu! continues. Our mission as a company is to make an impact by making businesses independent and competitive with clean, affordable and reliable electricity. We are all the more pleased when our customers also aim to have a social and ecological impact (in addition to profitability, of course).
Comments