WHAT WE DID

CRONIMET Mining Power Solutions was incorporated in 2011 and at the time traded under the name SOLEA Capital. Founders Rollie Armstrong and Steffen Kammerer formed an equity JV with the German EPC contractor, SOLEA AG, to establish an international solar development company.

During the first years of operations, we focused on utility scale PV power plants primarily in Germany and other policy driven European markets. By 2013, we successfully developed, financed, constructed and exited nearly 30 MW of power plants in Germany, Italy and Romania. As the renewable energy laws and policies in Europe were repealed, our founders turned toward a market where PV electricity was already approaching grid parity: Africa.

In 2012, in the midst of South Africa’s public sector REIPPP program, CRONIMET set its targets on a less visible market niche – dedicated solar IPPs for private sector companies. The company signed an IPP development agreement with a little known private German chrome mining operation in South Africa’s Limpopo province near Thabazimbi. At the time, the operating mine was consuming nearly 2 MW of power from an off-grid captive diesel mini-grid. The mine was running its entire 24/7 open-pit mining operations with gensets, at an operating cost of US$500,000 a year ($0.25/kWh, diesel only). After nearly six months of development, CRONIMET engineered, permitted, financed, constructed and commissioned the world’s first off-grid utility scale PV/diesel hybrid power plant.

In 2013, after a highly successful demonstration PV/ diesel Hybrid power plant, the owner of the chrome mine, CRONIMET Mining AG out of Germany, acquired 51% of SOLEA Capital and renamed the company CRONIMET Mining Power Solutions. Supported by CRONIMET Mining AG’s billion-dollar balance sheet and years of African market experience, CRONIMET Power Solutions fixed its focus exclusively on Sub-Saharan Africa and set its sights on becoming one of Africa’s leading vertically integrated solar IPP developers of small and medium sized (1 MW to 30 MW) utility scale distributed PV and PV/ Hybrid IPPs.

In 2014, CRONIMET Mining Power Solutions entered Namibia. As an EPC, we successfully engineered and constructed Namibia’s first utility scale and Nampower’s largest grid-connected PV power plant.

In 2015, CRONIMET partnered with the German state development finance institution (KfW/ DEG). Together the partnership committed nearly €5,000,000 to develop new PV projects, support local PV developers and offer capacity building and knowledge transfer workshops to universities, governments and the private sector in over 20 Sub-Saharan countries.

By 2016, CRONIMET’s pre-financial close IPP development pipeline of exclusive and contracted solar and PV/ diesel projects swelled to over 160 MW, with a further 700 MW of early stage PV developments prospects across East, West and Southern Africa.

In 2017, CRONIMET’s IPP orderbook of awarded IPPs was 30 MW across 8 grid-connected and captive PV and PV hybrid projects. Our pipeline of more projects under development continued to grow, adding new bilaterally PPA negotiations.  CRONIMET’s co-development activities with local developers intensified and further expanded into East and West Africa.

CRONIMET further fully developed, engineered, co-financed, constructed and commissioned a 3.8 MWp solar PV in Arandis, Namibia. Additionally, we completed our first PV system designed for the hospitality industry ensuring hoteliers a reliable off-grid and eco-friendly energy supply at a reliably favorable price.

CRONIMET is recognized as a leader in the off-grid hybridization of PV power plants and builds out its track record in Namibia’s game and eco-lodging sector of the hospitality industry. CRONIMET engineered a captive PV/ ESS/ diesel system and procured one of Africa’s largest lithium ion battery storage system for installation at a private off grid game lodge in the remote and environmentally sensitive Okowanga Delta region.

Our committed team is excited to realize all our upcoming projects and is confidently looking forward to the challenges of the future.