Finance company African Dawn Investments has entered into a strategic collaboration with Singapore company WaterCloud International and Chinese original-equipment manufacturer Beny New Energy to spearhead the roll-out electric vehicle chargers (EVCs) and battery energy storage systems (BESSs) across South Africa.

The roll out will begin in March and continue over the next five years.

Expansion plans into the Southern African Development Community and the rest of Africa form part of the company’s medium- to long-term strategy.

“This collaboration . . . paves the way for South Africa to become a leader in renewable-energy innovations on the continent,” African Dawn Investments director Nicolaas Germishuizen says.

The network support of business-to-business and business-to-consumer electric vehicle (EV) strategies is expected to create a dynamic demand for the EV market, especially for last mile delivery logistics and urban private transport.

The project was two years in the making. The hydrogen-powered EVCs and BESSs are designed to operate entirely off the grid, providing reliable and sustainable energy solutions for remote and underserved areas.

The collaboration will make use of hydrogen power and vanadium redox flow batteries, along with advanced energy storage technologies to ensure uninterrupted power supply. Both alternating current and direct current EVCs will be provided, ranging from 7 kWh to 600 kWh.

The project is scalable, with the potential for expansion beyond the initial 1 100 units, addressing broader energy needs with BESS and ESS technology.

Moreover, the project forecasts the creation of jobs and promotion of economic growth through local manufacturing and maintenance of the EVCs and BESSs.

Moreover, localised socioeconomic development, education, training and skills transfer will be a key focus.

“Together, we can make a significant impact on reducing carbon emissions and ensuring energy independence and driving a better socioeconomic future [by] adopting the Singapore economic model to be inclusive of the diverse citizenry of South Africa and Africa,” WaterCloud CEO Melvin Fernando says.

The roll-out of the hydrogen-powered EVCs and BESSs will begin early this year, with a focus on providing EVCs to the network and power to regions most in need of reliable energy infrastructure.