The financing of the solar system for the Radach Hotel in Tamale, which has 68 rooms, six conference rooms and two restaurants and is one of the favourite addresses for business people and tourists, was successfully completed at the end of August. We are now starting to realise the project, which has two firsts in store.
The Radach Hotel is a ground-mounted system - a first for us, as we have previously only financed PV on the roof. For the first time, our subsidiary EWIA Infrastructure will also be responsible for the installation of the system, such as ground and site preparation, foundation work, fence and frame construction.
Massive dimensions
We start with the concrete foundations for the frames. Our team on site takes a very meticulous approach. First, the ground is analysed and, if necessary, the concrete foundations, the frame thicknesses and the number of frame posts are adjusted.
The system with a capacity of approx. 74 kWp, which is to be surrounded by a 136 metre long fence, is to be positioned in such a way that it can also supply the new building under construction in addition to the existing hotel.
All components have already been ordered. For the installation, we are relying on proven teams that have already installed the PV for our customer WAHU! Mobility in Accra.
The system will feed all of the electricity into the hotel's grid and thus cover up to 50% of the hotel's energy consumption, which will not only produce and consume its own green electricity, but also reduce the need to run a diesel generator as a substitute in the event of supply bottlenecks. A total of 2 kilometres of cable will be laid for this purpose.
Local content is key
For us, our motto ‘Enable Wealth in Africa’ means contributing as much as possible to local value creation. We always try to buy materials and components locally, preferably from local manufacturers, and our employees are also locals. This doesn't work for all components, because at the Radach Hotel, for example, we rely on high-quality modules from JA Solar and inverters from Huawei.
Incidentally, many African governments, e.g. Burkina Faso, now include quotas in their legislation on how much local added value must be brought in.
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