Companies
Solar-powered desalination firm to get Sh410m funding
Thursday May 11 2023
Solar power. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Solar-powered desalination technology company GivePower is set to receive Sh410.5 million in funding from American tech firm ServiceNow to provide its water farm technology to four counties in Kenya.
The four devolved units have not been named but GivePower’s solar water firm dubbed Max went live in Likoni, Kenya, in June 2020.
ServiceNow is a software company based in California that develops a cloud computing platform to help businesses manage their digital workflows.
It has funded GivePower as part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) finance strategy.
“I’m thrilled to announce a new three-year, Sh410.5 million ($3 million) commitment to GivePower, a nonprofit that uses solar and battery storage technologies to deliver essential services to developing regions,” Edua Dickerson, an executive at ServiceNow, said in a statement.
“To help provide a sustainable solution to this problem, we’ve expanded our partnership with GivePower to take its innovative solar water farm technology to four counties in Kenya.”
Read: 1.3m people to get World Bank-funded solar power
The company said this partnership will help eliminate the inequalities resulting from climate change through mitigation and adaptation measures.
“Our investments in Kenya will enable the members of the communities there to maintain their resilience in the face of future climate disasters, such as drought,” she said.
The non-profit organisation GivePower installed its first solar farm in Kenya in August 2018, which turns salt water into safe drinking water, effectively allowing more than 35,000 people access to clean water.
This helped provide clean water to the communities with the Max system said to provide water access to up to 35,000 people every single day.
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GivePower has partnered with other companies in the desalination, pump design, solar technology and battery storage industries to develop efficient desalination systems.
