Launched as a turnkey answer for companies searching for to change into extra vitality environment friendly, Soleco Power has for the final 5 years specialised in giant photo voltaic and battery storage initiatives because it seeks to fulfill a rising demand for renewables in Caribbean and Central American markets.
Based by Angella Rainford in 2019, the corporate prides itself on delivering managed options which can be seamlessly built-in and made inexpensive by versatile financing choices.
“Earlier than beginning Soleco Power in 2019, I spent over a decade in finance, working in New York and London, the place I targeted on principal investments and personal fairness earlier than pivoting to renewable vitality entrepreneurship. In 2011, I launched my first firm, Rekamniar Frontier Ventures to handle Jamaica’s excessive value of electrical energy. I believed renewable vitality was a recreation changer for the Caribbean vitality markets, and I wished to show it. Rekamniar efficiently co-developed the Paradise Park Photo voltaic Undertaking, which was commissioned in 2019, and it’s at the moment Jamaica’s largest photo voltaic farm at 51MWp, and the island’s least expensive supply of vitality. After growing a US$65-million photo voltaic undertaking which affirmed my imaginative and prescient, I noticed {that a} hole within the industrial and industrial market remained as companies continued to be in want of inexpensive, scalable photo voltaic options that might assist them to scale back vitality prices with out ready for presidency tenders and as such, Soleco was established to cater to that demand,” Rainford advised the Jamaica Observer in detailing the corporate’s start-up.
The renewables entity, which builds and funds photo voltaic and battery vitality storage techniques for industrial and industrial purchasers, Rainford stated now provides under-lease buy offers permitting companies the chance to modify to scrub vitality with instant financial savings and no value upfront.
“This enterprise mannequin permits firms to derisk the funding into renewables, as each vitality financial savings and the long-term efficiency of the photo voltaic belongings are assured,” she famous.
With present operations powered by herself as CEO, chargeable for driving and defining enterprise technique and operations, the Soleco staff led by various different extremely expert people comprising engineers, undertaking managers, and finance specialists, she stated all work collectively to deliver initiatives to life whereas serving to much more companies to increase their operations all through the Caribbean.
“Soleco’s chief monetary officer (CFO) and particular advisor Stephen West has over 30 years in investing all through rising markets and we have now a powerful board of administrators made up of executives from established infrastructure gamers within the area, together with Rubis Energie.
“Our staff is compact but extremely expert, spanning from undertaking finance and vitality modelling specialists in Paris and London to seasoned engineers and undertaking builders in our Jamaican workplace, all enabling us to ship turnkey options completely in-house. We’re sufficiently small to remain nimble, however expert sufficient to ship on nearly any undertaking sort and measurement,” she stated in highlighting her workers’s competence.
The corporate, safely pushing cross start-up challenges and the necessity to get investor buy-in the female-led enterprise, having gathered a lot construction and experience, is now stated to be a regional powerhouse connecting purchasers to a rising variety of profitable renewables initiatives scattered throughout the Caribbean.
Cited amongst its first accomplishment is the corporate’s securing of a US$24 million in financing from IDB Make investments which it used to fund industrial and industrial initiatives within the Caribbean throughout 2021. Following on in 2023 was the build-out of Jamaica’s largest industrial photo voltaic improvement which the corporate commissioned for Caribbean Broilers (CB Group), to put in a 2.1-megawatt peak (MWp) solar energy plant throughout 4 areas. The undertaking touted as certainly one of its greatest wins, the CEO stated confirms Soleco’s potential to execute high-quality, commercial-scale developments.
“This proved the viability of the enterprise mannequin together with our potential to put in each rooftop and ground-mount photo voltaic techniques starting from 183kWp to 51MWp. We thank CB Group for sharing our imaginative and prescient for a greener and sustainable Jamaica and for giving us a chance to show this at such an early stage within the improvement of our firm,” Rainford stated whereas pointing to the corporate’s pioneering of photo voltaic grazing in Jamaica as one other of its top-rated initiative.
By photo voltaic grazing, sheep are used to take care of vegetation development at websites. The CEO, in relating to this a personally rewarding initiative, stated it has in an environmentally-friendly approach helped to fuse the operations of her trade with that of agriculture, one to which her father the late Henry J Rainford devoted a lot of his years in work and advocacy.
“In Could 2024, we additionally secured a strategic partnership with Rubis Energie, a number one unbiased vitality group headquartered in France and working in over 40 international locations. This partnership was shaped to speed up our deployment of photo voltaic installations and to increase our actions within the area,” she stated of later achievements.
With the corporate now stated to be operationally stronger than it has ever been, Rainford stated a powerful pipeline of initiatives being checked out is anticipated to additional lead the enterprise to larger development.
Just lately securing its first hospitality consumer in Jamaica and now bullishly pursuing tenders in international locations corresponding to The Bahamas, Barbados, Cayman, and Guyana, the corporate, she stated is continually taking steps to innovate and enhance choices for purchasers. At current heavy focus is being given to vitality storage which she believes can be instrumental in making photo voltaic a 24/7 answer within the coming years.
“We consider 2025 is the yr to include batteries at a industrial scale to extend financial savings for our purchasers. Now we have robust relationships with the most important suppliers and so we anticipate to mobilise on an energy-storage undertaking inside the yr,” Rainford stated.
“The long run is shiny, actually. The enhancements in effectivity and value of manufacturing for photo voltaic and vitality storage has made Caribbean and Latin American markets primed for renewable vitality. Demand is hovering as companies search out financial savings and governments push for a extra sustainable grid. With our scalable mannequin, and invaluable partnerships, we’re assured that we’ll have many profitable initiatives within the coming years, benefiting our purchasers, shareholders and the area as a complete,” she additional stated of the outlook.
