There was some link between Redflow and Lotus.
Here is the story from the AFR.
Green energy minnow Lotus eyes mega project in EthiopiaAngela Macdonald-SmithJun 8, 2020 – 12.00pm
Exclusive
Community-owned Australian outfit Lotus Energy Cooperative has scored what it is billing as the "world's largest renewable energy services contract", involving a highly ambitious $US3 billion ($4.3 billion) project in Ethiopia, including solar power, waste-to-energy and storage.
The contract, signed last week, involves a 30-year deal to provide power around the clock to Ethiopia's EFFORT Group, a large conglomerate including cement, car and steel production in the war-torn Tigray region in the East African nation's north.
Lotus Energy CEO Anthony Vippond says the project in Ethiopia would be the world's biggest "microgrid". Eamon Gallagher
The project will also involve a private energy network to connect the generation to plants that currently only have power for up to six hours a day, said Lotus chief executive Anthony Vippond, who said it would effectively create the world's largest microgrid.
He put the total value of the contract with EFFORT at more than $US30 billion over three decades.
Mr Vippond acknowledges the project seems improbably large for a company such as Lotus, which runs a blockchain-based energy transfer network in Australia, where it also has solar farms waiting to be connected into the grid, as well as operations in India.
But he insists Lotus has some potential backers lined up. The company is already b
acked by Danish renewables investor Obton, which has funded Lotus' two solar farms in Australia and with which it has a long-term partnership.
An Obton spokesman, Andreas Jakobsen, said while it was too early to comment on the project, "it sounds like an interesting set-up". Obton has been "extremely happy" with the collaboration with Lotus and is optimistic about future projects.
Mr Vippond said Lotus, a registered co-operative with more than 100 members that is debt free, had raised $US50 million of funding through Canadian firm DigiMax Global Solutions, which is to be followed by a $US250 million raising.
"It's a great candidate for green bonds as well," Lotus' chief strategy officer Matthew Rushton said.
The company is in talks with two large international institutions on a phased green bond issue, probably in Europe, as well as with its Australian bank, National Australia Bank, which provides a green bond service.
"Realistically we need a long-term partner who we can work with, as there are other large-scale renewable energy projects that will be announced later in the year and will require capital investments," Mr Rushton said.
Lotus has a 75 per cent stake in the Ethiopian venture, with EFFORT and the associated Mesfin Industrial Engineering holding the rest, but that could be reduced as investors come on board.
The venture is also working towards a public listing through an "international token offering" on the Jamaica Stock Exchange, but the targeted start in September of the three-year construction phase on the Ethiopian project is not dependent on that.
Mr Vippond developed solar power interests initially through an electrical group he ran before expanding into construction and infrastructure investment.
He recorded a conviction in 2013 for a fraudulent application for a loan, which has been repaid in full, an event he now describes as "an extremely stupid mistake".
“I had signed my wife’s name on a loan document for our family trust ... it was an extremely stupid mistake and unfortunately I’m regularly reminded of that poor judgment," he said.
The planned project, near the city of Mekelle, involves at least 500 megawatts of solar PV generation, including two large-scale solar farms as well as rooftop solar. The waste-to-energy plant will use proprietary technology from Lotus to process 1000 tonnes a day of waste. The grid will cover an area of more than 55 square kilometres.
Under the contract signed with EFFORT, 5 per cent of profits from the project, which Lotus estimates would create 20,000 direct and indirect jobs, will be invested in community and social projects.
Lotus' business includes its LET-Net peer-to-peer energy marketplace based on blockchain technology that cuts out reliance on a centralised entity and allows people to exchange energy between rooftop solar installations, commercial solar plants and electric vehicle charging stations.
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