Blockchain project Solar DAO will action its first PV plants, in Kazakhstan
The world’s first digital, autonomous, closed-end, utility-scale PV project investment fund – enabling people with any budget to become co-owners of projects – has announced the implementation of its first arrays, in Kazakhstan, with 4 MW in the north-west of the country and 4 MW in the south. Solar DAO says it will save about $50,000 per MW since total development costs will be less than $5,000 per MW.
The main obstacle to investing in PV plants is the high capital requirements and Solar DAO aims to resolve the problem and open up access to PV schemes for investors with modest budgets. The company has created a financial tool that empowers small investors to participate in PV plants worldwide, circumventing technical barriers and helping “people with any budget to become [co-owners] of PV solar plants across the globe”.
GOTOSOLAR, a Solar DAO project operator and owner, yesterday announced the implementation of its first arrays, in Kazakhstan: 4 MW in the north-west of the former Soviet republic and 4 MW in the south.
Solar DAO token holders will join more traditional investors on the Kazakhstan plants, which will come in at under $5,000 per MW.
And the small investor platform is offering discounts for backers who get their bids in early, with the GOTOSOLAR team having already applied for tariff bidding under new rules published by the Kazakhstan authorities in March.
Public auctions will take place on Monday for the northwestern area and on June 6 for the south. Until the end of August, electricity purchase contracts are expected to be signed and secured for 15 years.
“We have studied about 30 projects with a single plant capacity from 500 kW to 10 MW in 15 countries around the world, being focused on the selection of projects at the ‘ready to build’ stage for further construction,” said Dmitriy Solodukha, СEO and founder of GOTOSOLAR. “Finally, we have made a difficult decision not to purchase project companies offered in the market as we planned. We decided to implement our own projects to get the highest return with the lowest risk instead.”
The Solar DAO community is the world’s first Blockchain fund established for PV plants, launched by Mr Solodukha and his team last year, when it was intended to use initial coin offerings (ICOs) to invest in utility-scale PV projects worldwide. After the ICO was cancelled, the official token release was completed. A small number of tokens are still available for purchase from current holders.
Made up of industry veterans with well-established track records, Solar DAO’s focus will be on investing in projects in Israel, Portugal, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
