Executive Summary

Chint Power Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd was founded in 2012 and provides string inverters for the commercial solar PV rooftop market as well as central inverters for the utility scale IPP Solar PV market. Projects with a nameplate capacity between 1kW and 75MW form part of our South African Scope.

Business Description

Chint Power Solutions Africa (Pty) Ltd is the main distributor and supplier in South Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa, that specialises in the supply of inverters for the renewable energy field. Our core business practice is to supply products that will benefit South African and Sub-Saharan countries greatly. Project cash flows are evaluated to identify those projects which need the assistance of a deferred payment structure, thereby enhancing project cash flows. Business development is established to find co-operation partners in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our main focus is to supply project development companies with top quality inverters which, in the foreseeable future, will be partly manufactured in South Africa to comply with local content requirement rulings as indicated by the Department of Energy.

Target Industry

The company identifies project developers of residential / commercial solar PV rooftop projects and utility scale solar PV projects in the renewable energy field, which are strategically well positioned to benefit our existing and long term goals. Within this structure, the directors are responsible to find potential buyers markets, propose funding and empower development companies to complete the projects. National distribution networking and turn-key project technical assistance are focus areas. An off-the-shelf national distribution turn-key supply chain forms part of this portfolio. We comply with local content requirements on projects that form part of the National IPP Procurement Program.

Renewable Projects

Small Scale Utility IPP Photovoltaic Plants (1MW – 75MW) and Commercial Photovoltaic Rooftop Solar Plants (5KW – 1MW): The company objective is to provide inverters for projects that develop and facilitate the connection of various photovoltaic energy generation plants and combine the grid connection by feeding it into the existing Eskom substations. Prior to construction of these projects, Chint Power Solutions Africa will complete the sourcing process as follows:

• Currently Chint inverters are imported from China, where they are manufactured under stringent quality control procedures. Chint inverters will be partly manufactured in South Africa from 2015 onwards to comply with local content requirements and only the critical components in the inverters will be imported. The quality of the product will remain the same and regular testing of the product will continue. The production of the inverters in South Africa will result in job creation, economic stimulation and reduced transport and other costs.
• All inverters are also subject to rigorous testing and has been rated as one of the global Top 10 inverters. We will never compromise on quality.
• Inverters that are imported, are thoroughly inspected and the utmost care is taken to ensure safe storage and unpacking when it arrives in South Africa as well as when transported to the installation site.
• Installation of Chint inverters will only be done by certified and qualified technicians to ensure appropriate and optimal operation.

Risk/Opportunity

The greatest risk associated with this business model is balancing the local production of the inverters in South Africa with cheap import costs of completed units from China. We will mitigate this risk by carefully assessing each component of the inverter and its cost to be produced locally, using regional suppliers who are reasonably priced and only make use of South African labour. Running costs of the factory where the inverters will be produced, will also be kept reasonably low as the factory itself will be owned by Chint Power Solutions Africa and will be a “green” building, conserving energy by making use of alternative sources of energy.

Management Team

The management team is led by Chief Executive Officer Gert Linde who founded the company in 2012. Prior to his involvement with Chint Power, Gert had various leading responsibilities in marketing, project development, business development and commercial property trading. He was previously employed by, amongst others, the Altech Group and he is the founder of Trade-Prop Developments, RealNet Klein Karoo, Protel Business Systems, Protel Telecom, Renpower Group and Top Technologies. In these various businesses he gained valuable experience in IT telecommunications, electronic systems, technologies and business development. Gert has been working in Renewable Energy for the past six years. He heads the distribution and project development support on photovoltaic projects for the CPSA Group (Pty) Ltd. Gert fully developed the Dysselsdorp 75MW Photovoltaic Project and successfully facilitated a round 3 IPP bid project.

Operations

Our main office is situated in Somerset West, Western Cape, South Africa. Chint Power Solutions Africa performs all product procurement in-house. Products will be distributed by contracted distributors with their own logistic capacities and operations.