Financial inclusion remains one of the key developmental priorities on the African continent. Banking is one of the most basic parts of daily lives for Africans whether they are making a mobile payment, accessing an ATM, opening a business bank account, or transferring money to pay for goods and services. Routine actions like going to your local bank branch to speak with a teller and process a transaction, however, rely on one thing that may be taken for granted: the bank branch must have a reliable power supply to keep systems up and running. In this article we will share how Starsight Energy plays a major role in powering some of Africa’s largest banks to the benefit of their customers.
How does a bank use power?
Energy reliability is about more than just keeping the lights on. Digital banking has put computer networks and user interfaces front and center of daily banking operations. Inside, customers need a well-lit and cool lobby as they wait to process their transactions. Outside of the bank, the glow of an ATM machine is a reminder of the 24/7 nature of banking today. Whether the bank branch is in the middle of Accra, or on the outskirts of Lagos, a clean and reliable source of power is crucial for the business of banking to happen.
Starsight’s solution
Starsight is a leading provider of energy solutions to some of West Africa’s largest banks. Altogether, Starsight currently powers over 300 bank branches of large regional banks like Ecobank, FCMB, Union Bank, and GT Bank. While each system is tailored to the site’s needs, they have several things in common: power systems can either be solar, hybrid, off-grid, or grid tied. Our systems allow clients to seamlessly switch between solar, national grid, and battery storage, for example. Starsight’s state-of-the-art battery systems ensure that a bank can remain online at night without having to worry about grid reliability.
The introduction of flexible and sustainable solar power, in addition to battery storage, significantly reduces each bank’s carbon footprint. We have helped our three largest Nigerian banking clients avoid a combined 100,000+ tonnes of CO2 emissions over the lifetimes of their systems. In Ghana, we are on track to help GT Bank alone avoid over 15,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
On top of this reliability, sustainability, and efficiency, Starsight’s systems also help our banking clients save money. Starsight installs systems with no upfront costs and performs lifetime operations and maintenance for no additional fees. These cost savings amounted to over 8 billion Naira over ten years for one of our banking clients.
Our track record
Starsight has reached 22MW in total installed solar capacity, 17131HP in installed cooling capacity, and 33MWh in battery storage capacity among its financial sector clients. And it is safe to say that our banking clients love the benefits of their Starsight solutions. Olugboyega Falayi, the Head of Business Services for Ecobank, commented, “our partnership with Starsight has enabled Ecobank to reduce its carbon emissions whilst delivering a cleaner working environment, thereby promoting the Bank’s environmental sustainability policy. Felicia Obozuwa, the Division Head of Corporate Services at FCMB, recently said, “we have faith in Starsight deploying to our sites especially because of their excellent after-sales service. We look forward to engaging Starsight with more businesses to improve energy reliability in our other buildings.”
Starsight looks forward to continuing to power this crucial sector in the major African economies. To learn more about Starsight’s solar solutions, click here. If you are ready to schedule a consultation for your business today, click here.