Lagos & Nairobi – 12th May 2021: Starsight Energy is delighted to announce its expansion into East Africa via the acquisition of a 50% stake in the East African operations of Premier Solar Group, a market-leading Commercial & Industrial (C&I) solar company with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The transaction will see the creation of Starsight Premier Energy Group which will offer sustainable power and cooling-as-a-service and battery storage solutions to C&I clients in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
Premier Solar Solutions, the Kenyan subsidiary of Premier Solar Group, is already a leading player in the Kenyan C&I solar sector with five delivered projects totalling 2.7 MW, eight projects totalling 8.8 MW currently in execution, and a pipeline of a further 20 MW in Kenya. Furthermore, expansion into Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda is planned for 2021 and 2022.
Starsight Energy is the leading C&I solar power provider in West Africa with 41 MW of installed generating capacity, 33 MWh of battery storage, and 16,320 HP in cooling capacity across 547 sites in Nigeria and Ghana. Premier Solar Group brings international experience delivering end-to-end distributed solar PV solutions to C&I clients in East Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and the UAE. The new entity, Starsight Premier Energy Group, will offer clients technology-enabled power and cooling-as-a-service and battery storage solutions that significantly reduce energy costs and CO2 emissions while boosting customer profitability.
Rupesh Hindocha, founder and CEO of Premier Solar Group, has been appointed Chairman and CEO of Starsight Premier Energy Group. Rajat Surey, Head of Projects and Technical at Premier Solar Group, has been appointed CTO.
Starsight Energy CEO Tony Carr, commented, “we are excited to be partnering with Premier Solar Group in East Africa. The newly formed company will deliver significant financial capacity to the region’s energy efficiency market and offer new and existing clients an unprecedented opportunity to scale their sustainable power, cooling, and storage systems. Starsight Premier Energy Group will combine Starsight’s industry-leading service and technology with Premier Solar Group’s established footprint in Kenya. We look forward to bringing our unparalleled service and 99.9% uptime guarantee to new C&I clients in the region.”
“Following our recent expansion into Ghana, this investment marks a significant step in Starsight Energy’s growth story as the pan-African power and cooling-as-a-service sector moves further toward consolidation. Starsight is actively seeking more partners in this space across the continent. We are grateful for the ongoing and expanded support from our equity investors, Helios Investment Partners and African Infrastructure Investment Managers.
Premier Solar Group CEO, Rupesh Hindocha, added, “we welcome the partnership with Starsight Energy in East Africa. We knew instantly that Starsight would be the right partner for us because of their reputation for exceptional customer service, innovation, and sustainability. We look forward to continuing to deliver the standard of service and efficiency that has come to define the Starsight Energy and Premier Solar Group brands.”
Anyababa Ikem, Investment Manager at African Infrastructure Investment Managers, commented, “we are proud of our investment in Starsight Energy and believe that this transaction only begins to scratch the surface of market demand for C&I solar solutions in Africa. Further expansion into some of the fastest growing African markets was a natural next step for Starsight, which has come to define the industry standard for distributed solar and cooling solutions in West Africa.”
Tosin Awoyinka, Senior Vice President at Helios Investment Partners, added, “Starsight Energy has become a market leader in West Africa because of its technology, service, and value proposition. The East African market represents an opportunity for Starsight to further demonstrate the universality of its power, storage, and cooling solutions. We look forward to supporting Starsight Premier Energy Group as it becomes the market leader in East Africa.”
ABOUT STARSIGHT ENERGY
Founded in 2015, Starsight Energy is the leading technology-enabled African Commercial & Industrial (C&I) energy-as-a-service provider. It has deployed 41 MW of installed generating capacity, 33 MWh of battery storage, and 16,320 HP in cooling capacity across 547 sites in all Nigerian states and Ghana. The Company’s team of highly experienced professionals provides power solutions to the most demanding enterprises, including banks, petrol station operators, schools, universities, and large commercial agricultural companies. Starsight’s proprietary smart technology optimizes energy consumption enabling customers to significantly reduce energy costs and boost profitability without incurring any upfront expense. Starsight delivers an end-to-end service, from assessing a client’s energy needs to the installation and maintenance of a renewable energy solution to ongoing technical support. Starsight’s long-term relationships with its blue-chip clients reflect the quality of its in-house engineering, procurement, and construction services, along with the reliability of its operations, maintenance, and customer service. Together these provide customers with the peace of mind that all their power-related issues are in trustworthy hands.
Starsight Energy has consistently maintained the highest ESG credentials and continues to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint and harmful diesel emissions. The Company is backed by Helios Investment Partners and African Infrastructure Investment Managers.
https://starsightenergy.com
Nigeria: +234 (0) 809 489 7800
Ghana: +233 (0) 200 511 100
ABOUT PREMIER SOLAR GROUP
Premier Solar Group was founded in 2017 and is part of a larger group of renewable energy development companies, operating for the past 7 years, with financing and development experience on more than 60 MW of projects across Africa, Middle East and South Asia (including 30 MW in solar). The Company offers end to end distributed solar PV solutions to its C&I clients in India, Sri Lanka, UAE and East Africa. Services provided include load profiling, structural surveys, design, engineering, procurement, installation, testing, commissioning, financing, operation & maintenance (O&M) and remote monitoring. Premier Solar Solutions was set up in Kenya in late 2017 and within 3 years it has grown into the market leader in C&I solar solutions. The strong relationships built with Kenya’s blue-chip companies and their ongoing referrals is testament to the quality of the team on the ground which focuses on delivering the highest quality solar PV systems, designed to deliver optimal generation and at the same time provide best in class health and safety equipment so post sales O&M services can be provided whilst protecting its staff.