The electric grid is the most complicated network ever built. It is gigantic. It is complex. The energy it provides is the foundation of modern life. And it is at an inflection point. As Norman C. Bay, a former Chair of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, observed, “Transformational change has swept through the power industry over the last few years.” This rapid and dramatic change in the grid is being driven by three, equally related key trends.
The migration from traditional centralized electricity markets and one-way flow control to transactive energy market structures, enabling customers to become active participants in electricity markets, including self-generation, local demand management, and selling excess energy back into the grid
The transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy—especially intermittent sources.
The replacement of an aging “hub-and-spoke” infrastructure and control systems dating back to Thomas Edison with new “smart” information with communication and control systems that enable a fully distributed grid infrastructure.
At the intersection of these three trends, the Cenfura team recognized an historic opportunity to create a new type of power company by embracing a vision to build, own, and operate 100% renewable energy assets across the globe.
To address the three trends driving the future of the electric grid, these assets, including but not limited to next-generation power generation, storage, distribution, control, and transactive energy trading technology, will all be tightly integrated in the Cenfura Platform: a blockchain-based distributed system that possesses best-in-class technologies and processes. This new platform will serve as the foundation for an ever-expanding set of custom-developed functionalities and applications.
Cenfura has a pipeline of energy projects totaling over 1 GW in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
Cenfura is continuously evaluating new projects for their technical and economic viability, future partnerships, and new market segments. All projects must meet Cenfura’s high standards for sustainability, social responsibility, environmental impact, and economic development. Cenfura has also developed a new energy trading platform that will bring about a radical transformation of the energy sector and lead to an energy economy dominated by renewable, community-based supply.
Unlocking the value of the technology on which the platform is built will enable better-informed consumer selection and decision-making and result in the mass proliferation of distributed energy economies. The platform’s seamless and secure financial transactions will empower underserved energy consumers, enabling them to move out of energy poverty and become active participants in the energy market.
The resulting expansion will reach nearly half the world’s population, a population that, for economic reasons, currently suffers from a lack of reliable access to electricity.
In Africa, there is a lack of energy supply for rapidly growing populations and economies. As an independent power producer, Cenfura is active in Africa, providing renewable microgrid solutions of all sizes. These range from small-scale residential gated community projects to medium- to large-scale commercial consumers such as shopping centers and businesses and to large industrial- and utility-scale users.
The power requirements for each segment ranges from a few megawatts for small-scale users to tens of megawatts for commercial-scale users and hundreds of megawatts for utility-scale users. The market for renewable energy is set to grow in Africa with wind, solar PV, and hydro. Cenfura is always looking for new green energy production technologies and is currently investigating several biomass projects.
Cenfura’s European projects are mainly utility-size microgrids with sizeable centralized solar PV solar parks generating tens of megawatts that require significant land area. These will supply power to local communities through interconnections with national power grids.
Certain parts of Europe are more suitable for windmill parks where wind conditions are more favorable. In these regions, the parks stretch for many square kilometers and consist of a large number of windmills.
Cenfura is evaluating windmill park projects with the capacity to power small cities and is assisting countries with meeting their renewable energy targets.
In Asia, Cenfura is working with several partners to develop a significant number of project opportunities.
These include everything from residential solar rooftop projects to on-shore wind park projects. In order to expand to other renewable energy sources and master the technology, Cenfura is working to acquire a hydropower plant in an island economy environment.
Projects in the Americas range from commercial-size microgrids with solar panels and battery energy storage to larger utility-size hybrid power plants. College and business campuses present excellent opportunities to participate in transactive energy trading on the Cenfura platform.
