going to africa: lighting up the nights where there are no lights | across mountains and seas
2024-10-01
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guan wei said that before the emergence of the "equal rights hero" series of products, the management of haichen energy storage company had a discussion on the company's mission and vision. people often see the corporate mission written on the company wall. it is not that it looks good, is refreshing to read, or loud to shout, but that the people of haichen energy storage have seriously thought about it.we must put our mission into practice - "let green new energy benefit all mankind and help strivers realize their dreams."hence the story of going to africa to sell "equal rights heroes". the vision of this series is divided into two parts: first, to provide energy-poor people with access to electricity; second, to promote a sustainable green life and to allow people in energy-poor areas to make money using electricity.
peng luhua said that when we were growing up, we basically never experienced power outages, but some places in africa had no electricity or lights. for the people living there, the night with lights is the most wonderful.
guan wei and peng luhua are people who bravely went overseas to sell distributed photovoltaic products in africa. their experiencesit explains that the original intention is to be a responsible chinese overseas enterprise.
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1. the goal of new people going overseas: to deliver electricity to people who have no electricity.
when guan wei, general manager of shenzhen haichen equal rights hero energy technology co., ltd., said at the "renewable energy innovation solutions and south-south cooperation forum" held in shanghai on june 14"equal rights hero (hithium hero ee series products)"when the name came out, people applauded in salute. in guan wei's view, the use of energy is a basic human right. the electric light has been invented for more than 100 years, but there are still people who have not reaped the benefits of this technological invention. sothe definition of "equal rights hero" products is to allow those who do not have access to electricity to have the opportunity to use electricity through these new energy products.
the latest data released by the united nations shows that there are still 685 million people in the world without electricity. from this perspective, there is no surplus of new energy products, but they have not yet reached the place where they are needed.
on december 12, 2023, haichen energy storage released a kilowatt-hour household power supply named "hero ee". this is a household power supply that provides electricity at a cost as low as only us$0.05 per kilowatt-hour during a 10-year life cycle. power supply (the electricity price for chinese residents is us$0.075 per kilowatt hour) is an inclusive energy product that families in energy-poor areas can afford. when the product was launched, “hero ee” was unveiled by guest representatives from the united nations industrial development organization’s nigeria investment promotion office and cambodia. energy poverty restricts the development of poor areas. people without electricity are actually unable to enjoy the benefits of modern technological products. for example, without electricity, almost all electrical appliances cannot be used normally.
in 2024, cbn met haichen energy storage more than once. this is a company that aims to realize the dream of energy equality when going global. this dream was not there from the beginning. in 2019, when haichen energy storage was first established, its products were mainly aimed at large-scale power station-level application scenarios, and the market was mainly concentrated in developed markets such as china, europe and the united states. after several years of rapid growth, haichen energy storage will rank among the top five in global energy storage battery shipments in 2023.
however, the company's management has been thinking about a question:products overseas only focus on developed markets. what about the remaining underdeveloped areas and energy-poor areas? "we want to 'benefit all mankind'."
with this kind of thinking, the young haichen energy storage established a younger subsidiary named after "equal rights hero" with the goal of creating the most cost-effective products and solving the problem of energy poverty. in order to achieve this goal, haichen energy storage conducted surveys in more than 30 countries for nearly a year. these surveys further confirmed the importance of energy to the development of a region:if the energy problem cannot be solved, social development will be extremely slow or even stagnant.
haichen energy storageuse your insights as considerations for future product design:first of all, if you build a large-scale power station in an area with very little infrastructure construction like developed countries, the investment will be huge, the construction cycle will be long, and the professional maintenance team will not be enough. therefore, distributed power generation products have become a faster solution to people's livelihood electricity needs. the best choice; secondly, the affordability of each family is limited, and they cannot afford high-priced products. therefore, practical and cheap products are a layout with strategic significance for scale. to solve these problems in areas where power services have not reached, the first step is to use haichen energy storage's power industrial-grade products to reduce the cost of electricity as much as possible. moreover, the life of the product is basically ten years, so that one kilowatt hour of electricity can be amortized equally. the cost is very low. to achieve this goal, a lot of technological innovations must be made. guan wei said, "we want to provide them with more advanced equipment so that they can not only use it at home, but also run small and micro businesses, make money through business, and make the entire society more prosperous."
"hero ee" has already carried out project pilot projects in the target market for segmented scenarios such as family life, small business, and public utilities, and has received high recognition from key users and valuable feedback on "hero ee". for example, ngoswani town under narok county in kenya is close to the famous masai mara reserve and is mainly engaged in animal husbandry. there are 50-100 large and small shops along the two main roads in the town. the town has electricity access from kenya power, but the electricity is unstable and the electricity bill is relatively high (1.5rmb/kwh). sometimes the electricity is cut off for a day during the day and is not restored until evening. the villages below the town basically have no electricity access due to road conditions, and they are purely off-grid areas. in terms of residents' life, "hero ee" is charged by photovoltaic panels during the day, and the battery is charged to about 90%. the whole family watches tv until 11 o'clock at night, while connecting mobile phones, computers and other devices. the speakers are always turned on and played quietly when sleeping, which can be used the household’s electricity needs for an entire night. in terms of small business, "hero ee" provides a source of electricity for electric hairdressing instruments, which allows elizabeth's barber shop to obtain additional income. in addition, elizabeth said that with the "hero ee", her canteen can introduce some electrical equipment, which will increase the diversity of products sold, such as adding refrigerators to sell cold drinks. in terms of public utilities, a "hero ee" provides night lighting and outdoor lighting for five classrooms in the school, while also solving the teacher's office needs for ac products such as computers, mobile phones, and printers. additionally, the product can be used by students to repel nearby wildlife.
when i first heard the name "equal rights hero", my eyes lit up and my heart smiled at the same time. it was full of the chivalrous spirit of "going to the end of the world with a sword", but it was just an ordinary small (l210w130h285mm) with a very tough appearance. ) new energy battery products.at present, "hero ee" has launched 1kwh/200w and 2kwh/1000w products, and 8kwh and 16kwh series products are being launched one after another. hero ee1 weighs only 8.5 kilograms. today, we have become accustomed to the use of electric lights. with it, those rural areas in africa that have not yet set up power grids and have not used electric lights can light up electric lights at night in the villages. there is light. the smallest and first 1kwh mobile power supply product of equal rights hero company can also be used to meet the needs of fans, tvs, mobile phones, laptops, car refrigerators, projectors, hair dryers, ventilators and other electronic equipment for different durations.
when businesses talk about factors, competition, and markets in business, you will find thatthis generation of young entrepreneurs in china have an idealistic spirit of caring about ordinary people when making products, and they practice their ideals by traveling across mountains and seas to foreign lands to practice their ideals.
guan wei proudly said that haichen energy storage is a particularly enterprising company.
at the meeting venue that day, when guan wei was giving a speech, he was holding the smallest product in the company's "equal rights hero" series for everyone to see. because the supply is insufficient, someone needs to step forward to provide supply and solve the problems that exist in reality; at the same time, thisfor companies in business, it is also a market opportunity, but people are more accustomed to making good money.it is difficult and requires a lot of hard work to make money in africa where electricity has not yet been used, but guan wei believes that,when a village has never had lights at night, but since the products they provide can light up the night, allowing children to review their lessons under the lights, the night life of the people there has never been the same. people who develop and deliver products will be extremely happy.
haichen energy storage has attracted people's attention because it sells products in africa. however, in fact, it has a global layout from the beginning. currently, the company is headquartered in xiamen, with one center, two manufacturing bases, and four r&d centers across the country to support global production, as well as in the united states, the united kingdom, france, spain, germany, italy, australia, singapore, the philippines, and global sales and service network in the middle east and beyond.
2. “equal rights heroes” and their travelers: writing different stories of chinese enterprises going global
the work of the team of equal rights heroes created by haichen energy storage in africa is both difficult and joyful. he lei is a member of this team. he flew from shenzhen to shanghai to attend the salon "how to tell the story of china's new energy enterprises going overseas" co-organized by impact hub shanghai and yike carbon view. when it comes to going overseas, he has deep feelings about it after having worked in africa for many years. but he emphasized,the story of china's new energy going overseas lacks the part about how the products provided by chinese companies are co-constructed with the local area. this is precisely what is very important.
in the midst of the anti-globalization trend that sometimes arises, telling these stories truthfully will also make chinese companies less passive in the development of globalization. "for example, new energy products can bring people a good life experience. why do our products have to be subject to tariff sanctions once they gain a large market share?" he believes that these products actually bring more contributions to people.
he lei said that some extremely poor families in africa are using lead-acid batteries for lighting. lead-acid batteries have a short life, are expensive, and pollute the environment."our emergence is to allow every family to use products that are affordable, affordable, and environmentally friendly."
the problem of uneven development is more obvious in africa. the current education level in some poor areas is still very low. if infrastructure such as power grid construction does not have a mature operation and maintenance team, it cannot be used. therefore, to truly solve the electricity consumption problem of the people there, we must find another way to bring them a distributed, household-style electricity consumption method. by equipping each household with photovoltaic panels and energy storage facilities at an affordable cost, they can basically solve their daily electricity needs and ensure that their basic living standards are improved. he lei said that in order to cooperate with the "hero ee" solution, haichen energy storage's team found a partner with a similar vision and mission based on local actual needs - qixuan company. the company operates a power supply that is suitable for the location. it is a 55w refrigerator with a capacity of 60 liters. this small refrigerator can ensure the freshness and safety of eggs, meat and other foods.
"the use of new energy has caused a lot of chemical reactions in people's lives there, and people have become hopeful about life." when he lei said this, his eyes were shining, and you could feel a sense of ordinary people. happiness rippled from his heart.
energy is the engine of the development of human civilization.in the history of human development, drilling wood to make fire began with the acquisition of energy. the ignition of fire expanded the space for human activities and realized various possibilities. at a time when there are still 660 million people without electricity services at all, access to affordable, reliable, sustainable clean energy services is the seventh of the united nations' 17 sustainable development goals for 2030.
haichen energy storage stated that they areaiming at a very ambitious goal and making a small product, it is indeed innovative thinking in business, and it is also a brave attempt.when everyone develops products, their intuitive reaction is high-end products and high-profit market segments. however, this product is exactly what they think has a lot of room for but low profits. based on this feature, some impact investment institutions and charities have interactive links with haichen energy storage. when haichen energy storage develops these products, it not only wants to make money, but more importantly, it wants to make some contribution to the world.
he lei had spent seven years in africa before and had a full understanding of the poverty situation in some areas. he has been to four countries: egypt, libya, sudan, and ethiopia. in ethiopia, he visited some of the poorest provinces there, which are dark at night. haichen energy storage hopes to enable people to use convenient electric lighting facilities to do meaningful things.
he lei talked about his experience in tanzania. tanzania's 2021 statistics show that the population is 63.58 million, and the electricity coverage rate is less than 40%. in other words, about 60% of the population is still in an era without electricity coverage. many villages there have a population of about 1,000 people, and there are about 1-2 convenience stores. the convenience stores include everything from bubble gum to coke, batteries, mobile phones, and some second-hand clothes. convenience stores are small in scale and not large in appearance. they are usually run by a couple with several children. in the eyes of villagers, this kind of convenience store is equivalent to a city's cbd. it is the villagers' "shopping center", material distribution center, and their information distribution center. after the people here received cost-effective electricity support, firstly, they solved the problem of the business hours of the village's "shopping mall", so that they do not have to close the store after the sun goes down; secondly, with electricity, the shopkeepers can sell cold drinks and popsicles, and then it can also form a preliminary commodity cold chain: the shopkeeper can take a tricycle and put the refrigerator on it and the energy storage module on it, so that meat, fish, eggs, and fresh vegetables can be transported from other places.
peng luhua of shenzhen leiming technology is also a chinese selling new energy products in africa. he was an engineer for the first 15 years of his career, the world bank had a certification program for off-grid solar products, and he was the one who founded the lab in china. in his eyes, africa's development is actually quite differentiated. some countries have very good urban planning, but some cities do have unstable power supply. it is very normal for some cities to have power outages for more than four hours a day.
leiming technology's products in africa have different specifications. the solar panels for each household can be used to charge mobile phones with batteries and lights. these products can allow a remote village to have light at night. peng luhua told about his experience in zimbabwe. once he drove for two days to a small village in zimbabwe, where there was no electricity and no mobile phone signal. there are more than 100 households in this village, and their living conditions are very average. people there knew that leiming technology was there to promote solar products. china's most prominent advantage in solar products is its complete industrial chain. especially as the prices of components and batteries have dropped in recent years, particularly remote and poor areas can also use high-quality, low-price products. peng luhua said, "the villagers were very happy when they saw chinese products. the whole village sang and danced to welcome them. we reached a cooperation with the village chief, and the village chief became one of our partners, helping to represent and sell lei ming products".
in terms of product design, these chinese new energy companies can only know their needs after going to the local area to explore their needs.maybe in the beginning, in places where there was no electricity, villagers only needed electricity and lights. if there were lights, it would be a good night. but in china today, people basically do not experience power outages. peng luhua said, "when i was a child, there might be a power outage once a week. at this time, i would hurriedly look for candles, and i would feel a sense of fear. i would also feel scared when going out during a power outage. now, some rural areas in africa still live in this environment." 2004 leiming technology was established in 2006, focusing on the innovation and application of off-grid solar energy and adhering to its own brand. overseas, the company has always attached great importance to cooperation with local companies and local customers. regarding how to cooperate, peng luhua talked about a role model of a chinese company in africa - transsion. he said that there are their advertisements in many villages in africa, and they have integrated with the local areas and become the brand with the largest market share of mobile phones in africa.
peng luhua said that chinese companies in africa should pay attention to localized development. "we are not just a business relationship. it does not end when i sell my products. we bring the brand there, and the quality and reputation of chinese products." ".
for example, he said that the company's products have a minimum three-year warranty. many people will ask: why does the warranty need to be so long? why can the warranty last so long? different components of leiming technology, from batteries, controllers, and inverters, all have serial numbers. there will be 100% data in the factory. the product quality must be ensured before leaving the factory. he said that it takes two days to drive to the village where the product is sold. if the quality of the product is not up to standard, it will break down soon. after that, it will be necessary to send a person to repair it. the after-sales cost is very high.
peng luhua said it very well,"i hope that when chinese companies go overseas with chinese brands, they will grasp the quality control, tell the product stories of chinese companies well, keep our experience including the training of our personnel in the local area, and let the local area take on chinese brands and chinese products. manufacture."
hao jiangbei, overseas business director of green energy (shenzhen) technology co., ltd., who is also engaged in new energy overseas in africa, talked about their overseas business in africa from another perspective. he said that when china's manufacturing industry was first introduced from abroad, it also started with simple products suitable for our consumption level at that time. everyone knows that we were the first to introduce cars such as the japanese xiali and jetta. at that stage, these low-tech products were more suitable for china's overall consumption level. the construction of a country's technological system and industrial system is not achieved overnight. when we go to africa, to a certain extent, we help people there establish an industrial development system, which is a supporting point that promotes the development of the new energy industry.
3. government power in the overseas expansion of new energy
in some underdeveloped areas of africa, currently, due to restrictions on economic development conditions, a large amount of solar energy resources cannot be utilized, and people are still in an environment of energy shortage.
the use of new energy is combined with solving the electricity problem in african countries. in recent years, the chinese government has been promoting new related projects. at the african climate summit to be held in nairobi, the capital of kenya, in september 2023, in order to implement the china-africa declaration on cooperation in addressing climate change, chinese representatives announced that they would develop and implement the south-south cooperation "africa light belt" project to address climate change. this project focuses on the cooperation needs for the development of photovoltaic resources and clean energy in africa, takes advantage of the development advantages of china's photovoltaic industry, and adopts the method of "material assistance + exchange and dialogue + joint research + capacity building" to create a china-africa photovoltaic resource utilization cooperation demonstration zone to help africa relevant countries have solved the problem of difficulty in using electricity and helped african countries achieve green and low-carbon development. the uae has also pledged to support the development of new energy in africa with a us$4.5 billion financing initiative in 2023. access to electricity is one of the important indicators of the sustainable development goals. it is the common direction of africa's agenda 2063 and global development initiatives. it is also an important area for south-south cooperation projects on climate change.
"for africa, cooperation with china can not only develop africa's rich renewable energy resources, but also allow african countries to learn from china's experience in the vigorous development of clean energy." costantinos, a professor at addis ababa university in ethiopia berhutesfa said.
in order to solve the problem of energy poverty, chinese new energy companies have taken the initiative to reach these markets.
tochi sovanna, director of the renewable energy department of the ministry of mines and energy of cambodia, said that cambodia has also encountered some challenges before. rural areas are generally poor and prone to problems without electricity. now the cambodian government is determined to achieve clean energy goals, especially in rural areas to ensure that people have access to electricity. at the same time, it also needs to control electricity prices to make electricity no longer expensive. haichen energy storage and some institutions in cambodia are also exploring mutually beneficial cooperation in new energy.
zhang xiaohua, senior director of the china program of the climate work foundation, said that promoting the development of the renewable energy industry has become a global consensus. it is expected that by 2030, the global installed capacity of renewable energy power generation will triple its current level, not only in china, but also in 70% of african countries. and 10 asean countries have included renewable energy in their national energy development goals. for example, indonesia plans to increase the proportion of new energy development to 44% by 2030; the thai government plans to increase the proportion of renewable energy development to 30% by 2037; nigeria also has unstable power supply systems that have affected local production and production. life, against this background, nigeria has proposed a development goal to increase renewable energy power generation by 2030.
according to a report by the international energy agency (iea), to achieve the 1.5 degrees celsius temperature rise target of the paris agreement, global renewable energy installed capacity must reach at least 11,000 gw by 2030, and global green energy investment must increase to $4.5 trillion per year. in the past decade, international investment in global renewable energy has nearly tripled, but it is mainly concentrated in developed countries and china. most developing countries still face a huge financial gap in the energy transition. in 2022, developing countries will attract us$544 billion in foreign direct investment in renewable energy, which is 32% of the target amount; while africa's new renewable energy investment in 2022 will only account for 1% of the world's new investment. about 80% of the world’s population lives in areas without electricity in sub-saharan africa.
4. conclusion
when new energy enters places where no energy has reached, it not only brings light, but also directly advances to the use of green energy.decades ago, there were villages in china that had never used electric lights. from candles to lights at night, people were surprised. the brightness dispelled the darkness of the night. when there is energy available, a family can use household appliances, which is a huge change.
there are still many unlit places in this world waiting to be illuminated.i hope that more chinese new energy companies will bring their products and ideals to lands that have no lights yet. it is indeed the market for enterprises, but it is also the place where people are most looking forward to the arrival of these new energy products from china.
(source of the title picture of this article: visual china)
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text | executive director of yu jian first financial research institute
(this article comes from china business news)
