Energy efficiency was one of the main motivators for two aspiring engineers who, after university graduation, were determined to revolutionize the way energy is consumed and produced in Morocco and rural communities in Africa.
Karim El Alami and Cyril Colin met at UC Berkeley in California, while studying for their double degrees in civil and environmental engineering. Driven to develop a less expensive and more efficient solar technology, the 27-year-old pair designed a software to manage and reduce electricity bills. They called it ELUM.
Morocco, a major North African country with no fossil fuel to rely on, is planning to source 42% of energy from renewables by 2020, and 52% by 2030.
That energy software manages the use of batteries in virtual power plants, which are decentralized networks of independent power systems. The software helps everyone from individual homeowners to large industrial and commercial buildings benefit from their own energy generation.
The concept of optimizing energy efficiency through local battery storage allows utilization in accordance with location and renewable energy availability. Using batteries to categorize customers based on their consumption needs provides better forecast and information for the future.
The software system has already been implemented in a factory in Tangier and will be deployed in Casablanca for a telecom operator and other areas of the country before further expansions in Nigeria, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Guinea, and Senegal. “We hope to establish a strong presence in Africa with Morocco as a base,” says El Alami.
Energy planning using software solutions such as Elum is important, says Yasmine Berrada a project manager at Espace Bidaya, an incubator for social and green startups in Casablanca. “It is a key driver in the developing economy, not only for households but also for factories, where energy can represent up to 40% of the total cost of the industry,” she added.
