Centennial Generating Company is an energy services company established in 2014 by David John Frenkil, a Project Finance attorney who worked at law firms in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, including Chadbourne & Parke (now Norton Rose Fulbright). As an attorney he has represented investors and developers on the execution of over 1,000 MW of solar PV projects.
Centennial focuses on connecting commercial and industrial businesses to a power supply that is more affordable, reliable, environmentally sustainable and safer. The company provides solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems (BESS) at its customers’ facilities for no upfront capital cost. Centennial also brings financing, procurement, installation, asset management, and insurance, making it a hassle-free experience for customers.
Centennial’s projects improve the financial performance of customers’ businesses without requiring these businesses to make room in their budget for the equipment or the O&M associated with the equipment.
Environmental Sustainability
Centennial’s customers, which include Fortune 500 companies, are frequently looking internally, and throughout their supply chain, for ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, sustainability targets are increasingly important to businesses in African countries because they are part of the global supply chain.
“Businesses prioritize the reliability and cost-efficiency aspects of our projects, which we’ve delivered for our customers since commissioning our first project almost 5 years ago. Some of our customers have a sustainability mandate. For those that do, Centennial’s projects also facilitate customers in achieving their sustainability targets without committing new CapEx to the project,” explains David John Frenkil.
Centennial’s Typical Customers
Centennial serves factories, mines, distribution companies, commercial buildings, universities, healthcare facilities, hotels, and lodges. It also offers solutions for energy utilities to reduce their operational costs and downtime. So far, the company has 10 operational projects in East Africa, including the following:
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M Peace Plaza
M Peace Plaza is one of the largest commercial buildings in East Africa with 38,000 square meters of mixed-use space for offices, retail, and apartments.
The rooftop solar project reduces power costs during peak sunlight hours by over 50%. The project was designed and installed by Centennial’s in-house engineering team, and has exceeded power output projections each month since commissioning in April 2018.
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Manufacturing Facility
In December 2018, Centennial’s engineering team commissioned a solar project on a 10,000 square-meter rooftop in East Africa.
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University
Centennial installed the first solar carport in Rwanda at the largest private university in the country.
