BABAJIDE OKEOWO
Nigerian Breweries Plc (NB) and Cross Boundary Energy have announced the signing of Heineken’s first solar project in Africa. Cross Boundary Energy will be installing and operating a 650 kW solar plant located at NB’s Ibadan Brewery, the solar energy plant will become operational in 2019.
The landmark project is the first of its kind for Nigeria – a fully-financed solar Power Purchase Agreement for a major Nigerian business customer. CrossBoundary Energy will operate the rooftop facility on behalf of Nigerian Breweries as part of a 15-year solar services agreement. Under the agreement, NB will only pay for solar power produced, receiving a single monthly bill that incorporates all maintenance, monitoring, insurance and financing costs.
The solar plant will supply 1GWh annually to the Ibadan brewery at a significant discount to their current cost of power, while reducing the site’s CO2 emissions by over 10,000 tonnes over the lifespan of the plant.
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Jordi Borrut Bel, Managing Director of Nigerian Breweries Plc stated “We are delighted to be a pioneer in the adoption of solar energy in Nigeria. The solar plant will help power our world-class brewery in Ibadan, enabling us to deliver on commitments under our ‘Brewing a Better World’ initiatives and supporting Heineken’s global ‘Drop the C’ programme for renewable energy.”
Heineken’s Drop the C programme for renewable energy aims to grow its share of productionrelated energy sourced from renewables from the current level of 14% to 70% by 2030. “NB’s Brewing a Better World initiative has further targeted a 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030”, according to Martin Kochl, Supply Chain Director, Nigerian Breweries Plc.
Femi Fadugba, Head of Business Development for CrossBoundary Energy said: “We’re excited to be helping Nigerian Breweries go solar and to be providing the site with cleaner, cheaper power with no upfront investment or technical risk. I’m also proud that this flagship project – the first of its kind in Nigeria – will be launched in my family’s hometown of Ibadan