Project
Development
Building Your Ideal Mesh-grid Portfolio
The Site Selection Process
Mesh-grids are flexible, scalable and are designed for financial success in off-grid environments. There are many configurations available and choosing optimal sites for your portfolio will go a long way to maximizing financial returns.
This is Okra’s recommended approach for how to do great site selection based on key lessons we’ve learned. We always recommend developers apply local knowledge to further improve on the process and to experiment along the way.
We’ve developed multiple tools to allow you to optimize for each of the following criteria:
CapEx
Select areas with a high volume of potential connections.
OpEx
Multiple sites nearby and the cost of sending people out to site are minimized.
Revenue
Focus on sites with high SME activity / existing energy demand.
The Site Finder
Our Site Finder tool helps developers target projects that are most likely to be viable, maximizing the geographic and productive use potential of their portfolio as a first stage before surveys are even conducted on the ground.
It starts with conducting a proximity analysis - locating sites within a certain distance of existing site. Reduces OpEx by clustering.
Surveys
Once the initial sites are selected with the Site Finder, it’s time to conduct Surveys in the communities. These surveys allow us to identify commercial and household users. Our demand scoring algorithm then generates recommended mesh-grid kits based on expected energy demand profiles.
Since there are no issues with simultaneous peak loads like in a mini-grid, surveys can be conducted on a smaller portion of the community and extrapolated without sacrificing the integrity of the end result.
In addition, check whether each site has 2G or other internet connectivity
Surveys
Once the initial sites are selected with the Site Finder, it’s time to conduct surveys in the communities to gather insights into their energy needs.
The Hub Survey: Identifies productive users who require more energy and are key to the system’s viability.
The Generic Survey: Identifies spoke users with lower energy needs, contributing to the overall demand.
Survey results are processed through our demand scoring algorithm, which generates recommended mesh-grid kits based on expected energy demand profiles.
In addition, check whether each site has 2G or other internet connectivity
The Network Planner
Once the initial site scoring and qualification process is complete, we input survey data into the Network Planner tool. This tool performs detailed simulations, sizing each community’s mesh-grid Bill of Materials (BOM) to match forecast demand and energy profiles.
Compare mesh-grid costs against mini-grid
Integrated with our supply chain to give you an idea of component costs per site
The Network Planner
Once the initial site scoring and qualification process is complete, we input survey data into the Network Planner tool. This tool performs detailed simulations, sizing each community’s mesh-grid Bill of Materials (BOM) to match forecast demand and energy profiles.
The Project builder
The final step involves evaluating all shortlisted sites as a portfolio using the Project Builder. This tool aggregates data from the Network Planner and allows for a holistic review of the entire portfolio.
