- A renewable energy start-up founded by five UCT graduates is aiming to win R18 million in prize money for solutions designed to support rural communities.
- By providing reliable and sustainable sources of electricity, we can also tackle other problems such as energy poverty and clean water scarcity.
- The finalists have already received approximately R1.4 million to invest in their solutions, as well as networking opportunities and courses at Stanford University.
- For climate change news and analysis, visit: News24 The future of climate.
Omnibat, a renewable energy start-up founded by five University of Cape Town (UCT) graduates, is aiming to win R18 million in prize money for its solution to tackling energy poverty and lack of clean water in rural areas.
The startup also has ties to Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and uses a combination of solar panels, batteries and hydrogen, all pre-packed in shipping containers and exposed to sunlight. It provides users with reliable power even when the power is off. It's not shining.
“There's a saying: 'If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together,'” said Randy Kabuya, a young engineer from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the founder of Omnibat. When I saw Milken Motsepe's competition, I immediately gathered all the friends I had met in higher education and said we had to take part in the competition. ”
The Milken Motsepe Prize in Green Energy, launched last year, aims to give innovators the opportunity to scale up reliable, affordable and sustainable power solutions in Africa.
It joins the Milken Institute, a nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif., with six other global offices, and a South African company founded by businesswoman Patrice Motsepe and his wife Precious Moloi-Motsepe. This is a joint research with the non-profit organization Motsepe Foundation. It is dedicated to tackling poverty, unemployment and inequality.
The UCT graduate has been selected as one of the top five finalists in the competition and has already received R1.4 million. If he wins, he could receive $1 million or R18 million.
“The R18 million award will be a significant boost to our efforts to expand our business and bring our solutions to more communities in need,” Kabuya said.
Kabuya is an electromechanical engineer and product developer responsible for systems design and development at Omnivat. He and his team of engineers met during his time at UCT and proudly define themselves as a pan-African team.
“The circumstances around me motivated me to create solutions that would benefit my community and beyond,” Kabuya said. “With our innovative approach to solar power, hybrid batteries and hydrogen storage, Omnibat has the potential to have a significant impact in rural areas with limited access to reliable energy,” he added. Ta.
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Omnibat co-founder and civil engineer Denny van Rooyen described it as a green market solution that uses solar panels to create shaded markets in rural and peri-urban communities.
“This basically uses solar panels as a roof and creates a shaded market where vendors can trade. That solar power is sent to a containerized system where the solar energy is stored in secondary batteries. ” Van Rooyen said.
Secondary batteries that have not reached the end of their useful life will be reused.
“One thing we have been very intentional about is the use of second-hand batteries.We thought that as electric cars in first world countries reach the end of their warranty period, a large amount of battery waste is starting to occur. There are several organizations that can reuse second-life batteries and use them for different purposes… So we are now using batteries to store energy,” Van Rooyen explained. .
Typically, when the battery dies on a cloudy day or during the rainy season, a secondary storage system using hydrogen is activated.
“Rainwater is also harvested at the market and our system purifies it,” Van Rooyen said. The system uses an electrolyser to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, storing the hydrogen for when it is needed. Specifically for use in fuel cells to generate additional power when the sun is not shining.
An artist impression of Omnibat's green energy marketplace, which also helps purify water in rural areas.
Omnibat was required to demonstrate its green energy solution at Stellenbosch University in February as part of the Milken Motsepe competition. (Omnibat)
Supplied
Van Rooyen explained that Omnivat's solutions address energy access challenges not only in South Africa but across the African continent. The company's solutions help address issues such as power shortages, clean water shortages, and limited economic opportunities by providing reliable and sustainable sources of power and clean water.
However, the team faced several challenges in developing the first demo to full scale under tight deadlines. We also had to import some key equipment that was not available in South Africa.
“One of the big challenges we faced was importing some key equipment that is not available in South Africa. For example, electrolyzers had to be imported from Italy and fuel cells from the Netherlands. “I did,” Van Rooyen said.
“Imports are a big challenge, especially since we end up buying one or two things. If we start expanding and building multiple green markets at once, costs become more manageable.” she added.
Van Rooyen expressed a desire to see more equipment needed for energy solutions manufactured locally.
I would like to see more local manufacturing of this type of equipment, especially with energy issues. There is no reason why South Africa cannot be at the forefront of this type of development. And I think that's what really inspires us.
Sifiso Mvulane, the team's electromechanical engineer and head of system design and assembly, expressed excitement about the opportunities the competition presented for Omnibat. He said: “Milken Motsepe Prize contestants had the opportunity to connect with a global network of world-class experts in innovation and entrepreneurship, as well as investors who provide guidance and support.
“Furthermore, the finalists attended a course at Stanford called 'Idea To Market' hosted by Global Innovation Catalyst, where they received mentorship to help them form their ideas and businesses,” he said.
Dr. Emily Musil-Church, senior director of the Milken Institute, said contestants also receive non-financial benefits by participating in the contest. “Even if someone didn't win the prize, they felt it was worth investing all their time and energy. Even if someone didn't make it to the next round, they still felt like it was worth investing all their time and energy. “We were able to get resources that we didn't have before,” she said.
Omnibat, along with other green energy finalists, demonstrated their solution at Stellenbosch University in February as part of the competition's requirement to test all innovations on the African continent.
The team needed to generate 60kWh of electricity in 24 hours, demonstrating the use of off-grid power solutions using green energy sources and also providing affordable and reliable power to impoverished areas. Ta.
Other finalists are:
- AfTrak Micro Electric Agriculture and Energy – A solution for using solar microgrids and solar-powered tractors for deep farming.
- GEG ehf – Hybrid solar and geothermal renewable energy system solutions.
- New Digit Technologies – A solution that provides compact, portable devices that generate energy and purify water.
- Smart Agri Center – A solar-powered community hub solution that provides affordable clean energy and services to farmers.
The final competition awards will be announced at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles in May. Each team can send up to two representatives to the conference.
