EWIA is preparing another solar rollout in Cameroon

EWIA’s CFO, Timo, traveled to Cameroon with EWIA engineer Aina to assess the status of five villages that have already been electrified. In Ombe, they visited the local site for the first time and met with their resourceful colleagues. In the village of Waterfalls, which is next in line to be electrified with PV, the two began planning with the local contacts. And what’s important for entrepreneurs: Customs clearance in the economic hub of Douala went off without a hitch.

Between March 17 and 27, our EWIA engineer Aina (learn more about her here) and Timo traveled to Cameroon once again to further advance our sustainable village electrification projects and optimize existing systems.

The journey took them from Munich via Paris to Douala, where they arrived late in the evening. Douala, Cameroon’s largest city, has a population of just under 3.4 million. The former capital, named after the Douala people, is located 24 kilometers from the Atlantic coast. As an economic hub, it serves as the financial, industrial, commercial, and cultural center, as well as the transportation hub of this Central African nation. Entry into the country and customs clearance went extremely smoothly and quickly—there were no problems whatsoever, even with the fuses and electrical components for our solar systems in our luggage.

New inverters boost the performance of the existing system

The very next day, Timo and Aina began working on the project alongside our local team from SunErgy Cameroon. In the existing solar villages of Kotto Mission, Nachtigall, Kombé Gare, Matuke, and Kotto Up, they inspected the newly installed inverters and successfully commissioned some of them. This contributes significantly to the sustainable improvement of the systems’ performance. In addition, the two took the opportunity to engage in an intensive exchange with our technicians and the local accounting team to discuss challenges directly and develop solutions together.

A dedicated and resourceful local staff

A real highlight of the trip was the visit to our site in Ombe, which had recently been inaccessible due to political instability. There, I was able to tour our office for the first time and see the local staff at work. The initiative shown on the ground is particularly noteworthy: Our local director, Mike, runs a workshop where he manufactures specialized tools for the installation of our off-grid villages himself.

Next Chapter: Waterfalls

At the same time, plans for our new solar village, “Waterfalls,” continued to take shape. In addition to technical infrastructure planning—including GPS-assisted route planning for medium-voltage grids—Timo and Aina held intensive discussions with local stakeholders, including village leaders, educational institutions, and businesspeople. The goal was to gain the best possible understanding of the actual local energy needs and integrate them into the project planning. Stay tuned!

Customs went smoothly – once again

On the day of our departure, Timo and Aina were also able to pick up additional inverters from customs in Douala; these were imported by MPower and will be used in the off-grid village of Matuke.

This trip has once again demonstrated how crucial close collaboration with local teams and communities is for successfully implementing and operating sustainable energy projects in the long term.