Smart energy services company Cenfura has formed a joint venture with project developer DNA Global Energy to deploy 14 renewable energy microgrids across South Africa.
The new venture will design, build, operate and tokenize assets. Tokenizing is the method used to integrate assets into the Cenfura Platform, a blockchain based system for deploying community energy solutions.
The 14 planned microgrids will range from 500 kW to 1 MW in capacity and will serve gated communities. The systems aim to provide greener energy at a lower cost, while increasing energy reliability for the customers.
“They have a mix of solar and battery storage, with coverage for 24 hours of normal operation of the houses,” Jussi Schultink, Cenfura’s PR and communications manager, told Microgrid Knowledge.
The microgrids will be similar to Cenfura’s existing Malachite Mews project, which serves a community of 216 houses with 500 kW of peak solar PV generation and 672 kWh of battery storage capacity. This is the largest battery system in South Africa’s residential sector, according to Cenfura.
Settling transactions with XCF tokens
All of the functions and services associated with Cenfura’s energy assets, such as buildings consuming energy, installations producing energy or energy storage facilities, are tokenized. The Cenfura, or XCF, token is used to settle all transactions.
For example, the Cenfura platform may tokenize a solar farm’s output to a local utility company at 10 cents/kWh generated. Based on smart energy contracts and the asset’s energy output, the value is calculated in the local fiat currency and the system automatically buys the equivalent value of XCF tokens.
According to Cenfura, this “proprietary medium of value exchange allows for a more orderly and autonomous transactional economy,” including the use of smart contracts to lock in future goods and services. It also allows Cenfura to implement community-based inclusion initiatives, such as tackling energy poverty by allocating XCF tokens for this purpose.
In addition, buying and holding the tokens represents prepayment of future goods and services, creating additional working capital for the organization.
Looking ahead, Cenfura will continue to develop a number of projects in their own pipeline as well as their partner’s.
“The projects are not just microgrids but also large industrial energy projects,” Schultink said.
Interested in microgrids? Join us for Microgrid 2021: The World Awakens to Microgrids, May 11-June 3. To attend free of charge, register in advance. Space is limited on the virtual platform.
