MEDIA RELEASE
San Francisco, CA (September 11, 2018) — DBL Partners and its portfolio company ZOLA Electric (“ZOLA”), formerly Off Grid Electric, today announced a Global Climate Action Summit pledge to expand energy access in Nigeria through PAYGo Solar and displace the negative climate and health effects of fossil-fuel powered generators. In Q4, 2018, ZOLA Electric will expand its PAYGo distributed solar energy model and launch an affordable renewable energy alternative available to Nigerians. ZOLA’s target is to deliver clean energy access to 1 million households and businesses in Nigeria over the next three years. This ambitious expansion is focused on delivering Global Climate Action Summit goals of energy access and driving the transition to clean renewable energy.
“Our objective, and expectation, at ZOLA is to displace fossil fuel generation through cost, convenience and carbon emission superiority” said Bill Lenihan, Co-CEO at ZOLA Electric.
“A major component of addressing global climate change is the imperative to transition the continent with the fastest growing population — Africa — to clean energy, and we are excited for ZOLA Electric to bring its comprehensive PAYGo solar approach to Nigeria” said Nancy Pfund, Managing Partner and Founder, DBL Partners.
Nigeria is a rapidly expanding economic powerhouse, with population growth tipped to surpass the United States by 2050. It is Africa’s largest economy and its biggest oil producer. Despite this, the Nigerian electrical grid is unable to meet its citizens’ basic energy demands. Power from the grid is unreliable and expensive and this has driven more than 100 million Nigerians to rely on diesel generators to power their basic energy needs in their homes or apartments.[1] While diesel generators provide energy autonomy and reliability, they are highly-polluting and expensive to run. Estimates of climate impact calculate that diesel generators in Nigeria produce about 29 million metric tons of CO2 each year[2] — the emissions equivalent of roughly 6.3 million passenger vehicles.[3] Ambient air pollution from diesel generators
Press Contacts:
Will Dwyer | ZOLA Electric: william.dwyer@zolaelectric.com
Mark Perutz | DBL Partners: mark@dblpartners.vc
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[1] Ferrero, V. Developing Clean Energy in Nigeria: Data-Centric Solutions for a Solar-Hybrid Company (2018) at https://dukespace.lib.duke.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/10161/16583/Ferrero%202018.pdf
[2] https://www.cgdev.org/blog/how-can-nigeria-cut-co2-emissions-63-build-more-power-plants
[3] https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle