GC SOLAR
HOME-GROWN MADAGASCAN ENERGY SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: GC SOLAR
HOME-GROWN MADAGASCAN ENERGY
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Hery-Zo Rajaobelina, General Manager at GC Solar SA, about Madagascar’s domestic energy market, the applicability of solar PV to agriculture, and the future of PV in the region.
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GC Solar SA is a renewable energy company, offering tailor-made turnkey solutions across the Southern African region. ‘GC’ is a contraction of GreenCorp – a previous company launched in 2009. “Through GreenCorp, we performed a few installations, and we were able to gain a better understanding of the solar PV industry, the local market, and the main producers,” explains Hery-Zo Rajaobelina, General Manager at GC Solar SA. “It was also a great opportunity for us and our staff to get trained and improve our skills. In order to achieve our objectives, we also established a strong partnership with the world leader in centralized and decentralized photovoltaic systems, SMA Solar Technology, by joining its SMA Sunbelt Energy program. Every two years, during the nine years of GreenCorp between 2009–18, we used to send our staff to the SMA solar academy in Germany. We continue to do so to this day.” In 2018, the company decided to rebrand as GC Solar SA, as a subsidiary of their new holding company Lights of Kapital Investments Holdings (LOKIH). “We needed to grow, and we needed more funds this end,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “For that reason, we made up our minds to found LOKIH, as a means to give GC Solar the best conditions to grow. This change has allowed us to deliver bigger installations with more specifications. These installations need more engineering, and they need people with more skills and greater training, and they’re being delivered for international clients.” In Madagascar, GC Solar SA supplies the residential, commercial, industrial, and rural
markets. From engineering in its design office, to maintenance, through installations adhering to the strictest international standards and norms, GC Solar SA handles all aspects of the development of solar projects. “The commercial and industry market is our main client target, as they’re responsible for consuming about 60% of the public grid supply,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “But we dont exclude residential solarization.” BUILDING ENVIRONMENTS GC Solar SA views solar PV as an integral part of Madagascar’s long-term development. “To succeed in our aims and ambitions as a country, we need to invest in low carbon technology, energy efficiency, the internet of things (IoT), smart grid developments, and more,” says Mr. Rajaobelina.
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INTERVIEW: GC SOLAR
“WE’RE FOCUSED ON MAKING CLEAN INVESTMENTS, DEVELOPING MORE PROJECTS THAT ALLOW OUR COMPANY TO GROW”
“PV solar is an ideal example of such investment. The technology is scalable, which makes it technically easier to implement for all kind of final users than other renewable energy such as hydroelectricity or biomass. Using solar PV, we can take advantage from outstanding and optimal climatic conditions, delivering stable, renewable energy, at a cheaper price for both consumers and government. Because of all these factors, it appeared crystal clear that we should found an EPCM (Engineering Procurement Construction Management) company within the solar industry.” Crucially, the company recognizes that renewable technologies have the potential to resolve domestic needs. “Madagascar is an island, and the agricultural output is 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
very low,” explains Mr. Rajaobelina. “The main food source for the Malagasy people is rice; but we’re not able to produce enough. Instead, we import food; and for whatever we do produce, we need energy, which we also have to import. However, because we’re also far away from the Afri-
can mainland, we experience what’s called ‘imported inflation’. That means, when you want to make a purchase in Madagascar, it’s expensive. For that reason, we hope that renewable energy can be the answer, by helping farmers and investors to produce locally at a lower cost.”
RELIABLE INVESTMENT At first, the local market was slow to adapt to solar. “It’s only since 2017 that we’ve legally been allowed to install grid-tie connections,” explains Mr. Rajaobelina. “Before that, all of the solarization with grid-tie was a gray area. Most solarization was off-grid, and it was more expensive as a result, and for us, it made the local market very hard to penetrate. The second barrier we faced concerned the price of kWhs from the public grid. In general, across Africa you’ll find that the public grid is subsidized by the state, meaning that the purchase price of kWhs doesn’t reflect the real price. Instead, money is lost for each kWh that’s distributed, and that remains the case now. It’s something that would be very difficult to change.”
Despite the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, GC Solar SA has a number of substantial large-scale projects on the horizon. “Before lockdown in March 2020, we had about 431 kW of projects ready to solarize,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “This was split across 6 industrial sites, including four gas stations for the petroleum company Total, and a luxury hotel, all with OnGrid technology, alongside a textile factory with PV-diesel technology. Each of these installations will be in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital. In the case of the gas stations, we took full responsibility for the engineering, the procurement, and we also have a contract with operations and maintenance, using remote monitoring to check the production and anticipate future maintenance – something that’s very important for us. We also have all our commissioning checked by external and independent auditors from international independent expert firms, such as Bureau Veritas. These technologies represent a huge investment for our customers, and it’s essential for them to know that all the details have been performed to the highest standards.”
relating Madagascar’s environment. As it stands, we plan to have more projects to develop and to implement in sectors including agri-voltaics for the farming sector, floating solar for the fish-farming sector, and more. The lands in Madagascar are known to be particularly rich and productive, as such, our approach is to encourage the agro-industry sector to optimize its production processes, not only during the processing phase but also during the farming phase. This will help establish a blue circular economy. In general, we also know that if we want solar PV to become more developed, we as LOKIH and GC Solar SA need to continue investing in our people. It’s for that reason that we’re taking the decision to continually send our staff to Germany, to get trained, and to show that local people can do great things.” c
NEW MARKETS Looking beyond the current pandemic, GC Solar foresees opportunities. “If conditions improve, in 2021 we’ll have 145 kW of offgrid projects to implement for an international company,” says Mr. Rajaobelina. “That will involve carrying out upgrades for an airport. We’re focused on making clean investments, developing more projects that allow our company to grow, and which enable us to invest in even more sectors SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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