Standard Bank Group is powering real impact with its latest offering: PowerPulse, an innovative digital platform designed and built to transform the way we produce, deliver and consume energy in South Africa, and in time, across the African continent.
Through PowerPulse, Standard Bank is helping clients source alternative means of energy production. This platform guides clients in making the right technical decisions and selecting the right installation partners. This is then aligned to the most appropriate legal and funding solutions, all within the complex regulatory and approval environment.
“We developed this offering as part of our long-term commitment to drive the right environmental decisions with the commercial sustainability of our clients in mind. It is our ambition to accelerate the adoption of renewable energy solutions in Africa by providing a platform that fulfils a supportive, coordination and optimisation role in these projects,” said Deerosh Maharaj, Senior Manager, Power & Sustainable Solutions, Natural Resources at Standard Bank Group.
PowerPulse is a digital platform enabler of Standard Bank’s renewable energy sector strategy and is being embraced by clients across the Corporate and Investment Banking and the Business and Commercial Clients segments. Since the digital platform’s successful launch in July 2021, it has been facilitating solar photovoltaic (PV) exploration for commercial and industrial businesses across South Africa.
With a healthy pipeline of client transactions in progress, and growing steadily, the Group is swiftly evolving its business model with an entrepreneurial and commercial mindset on adjacent client value propositions. This includes residential solar facilitation in partnership with LookSee, a digital platform operating in the residential property market, following a successful proof of concept (POC), metering and monitoring data and solar PV panel bulk procurement facilitation for solution providers.
“Our recent POC in the residential market was very successful, offering great insights and learnings. We are excited to enter this segment with the introduction of more solution providers to our platform and with our partnership with LookSee as our go-to-market partner,” said Kevin Ssemwogerere, PowerPulse Corporate Venturing Lead, CIB Digital at Standard Bank Group.
A new and more automated version of the digital platform is also expected to be launched in the near future.
As the Group accelerates towards its 2025 Ambition of becoming a client-centric, digitally enabled platform business, it is creating innovative solutions and new partnerships to better serve its clients. Deepening digitisation across the continent is opening new doors and PowerPulse was developed to help address both the energy security and climate change challenges faced.
PowerPulse is well positioned to contribute significantly to the sustainability of the South African economy and the continent, driving sustainable and inclusive growth across Africa. Furthermore, the reduction of the cost of energy and security of supply provided by Solar PV is compelling.
“We are solving a problem by bringing producers and consumers together whilst creating value for all participants - digitally enabled - with the ingredients and ambition to not only be a successful business but also a platform business that makes a positive environmental impact,” said Ssemwogerere.
PowerPulse can be accessed via Standard Bank’s OneHub platform.