RENUCONSULT - PROJECT ADVISOR
Engineering × Finance × Operations
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT · DEVELOPMENT FINANCE · EPC · TECHNICAL DUE DILIGENCE · PHOTOVOLTAICS · STORAGE
PROJECT
How does an idea turn into a project that can be financed, built, and operated permanently? And how do you determine in advance whether a project or a company delivers on its promises?
Renution advises development banks, companies, and investors on technical project development. We accompany projects from the initial idea to execution and evaluate assets, technologies, and companies.
We bring the team together
No project is like another. That is why we do not work with a fixed standard team. For every task, we bring together the exact specialists required and combine their expertise into a comprehensive picture.
Our network includes:
Biology: A perspective on systems where everything is interconnected
Engineering: Photovoltaics, power electronics, and storage technology
Project Development & EPC: Hands-on experience from solar projects totaling around 1 GW of capacity, from development through to turnkey construction
Research Partners: Such as the PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin, with whom we jointly executed the Tonga project
We coordinate the team, pull all the threads together, and serve as the central point of contact for the client.
Three perspectives on the same project
This composition yields three distinct perspectives:
The perspective of the bank financing the project
The perspective of the EPC contractor tasked with building it
The perspective of the investor wanting to know what they are buying
Biology + Engineering ·
10 years of EPC experience · ~1 GW of solar projects · Research partner PI Berlin
QUESTION · What do our clients want to know?
The questions vary depending on the client, but they all boil down to the same thing:
Development Banks and Utilities: Which solution achieves the most goals within a fixed budget?
Companies: Is the project technically feasible, economically viable, and constructible?
Investors and Buyers: Does the plant or company perform in reality as it does on paper?
Case Study – Tonga: In the Outer Island Renewable Energy Project (OIREP), Tonga's outer islands were to be transitioned to renewable energy with a budget of approximately USD 6.8 million. Funding was provided by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Australia, and Tonga itself.
Together with the PI Photovoltaik-Institut Berlin, Renution supported the state-owned utility Tonga Power throughout the entire process - from field surveys and conceptual design to the international tender.
OBSERVATION · What do we observe time and again?
Projects rarely fail because of the physical equipment used. They fail due to unverified assumptions, interface gaps between trades, a lack of documentation, and, above all, operational oversights. From hands-on EPC experience, we know that many decisions made during development directly dictate subsequent costs on the construction site.
That is why we start on-site, not at a desk.
Case Study – Tonga: In five weeks, the team visited nine islands via charter flight and boat. This revealed three entirely different reality baseline scenarios: professionally operated utility grids, village mini-grids providing 6 to 8 hours of diesel power per day, and islands with no grid at all. The residents' needs were concrete: continuous refrigeration for fish and medication, lighting for handicrafts, and washing machines. On Vava'u, an existing storage system was non-operational due to a lack of documentation and training. On Niuafo'ou, 7 out of 10 inspected solar home systems had bypassed charge controllers.
DATA · What can be measured?
Good decisions require good data and that is precisely what is often missing where projects are most challenging. On remote islands, in weak grids, or for existing plants lacking documentation, there are frequently only estimates, old logbooks, or nothing at all.
That is why we combine data from multiple sources and explicitly state its reliability. A number without an indication of its margin of uncertainty holds little value for an investment decision.
Case Study – Tonga: Solar irradiation was calculated from weighted sources and averaged approximately 1,770 to 1,800 kWh/m² per year, with a confidence level of around 91%. In contrast, load data was partially derived from handwritten logbooks, yielding a confidence level of only around 75%. The weakest data source determines the certainty of the entire system design.
RENUQUBE · Measuring where no data exists
Where data is missing, we collect it ourselves. To this end, we developed the RENUQUBE - a modular IoT cube designed for on-site data acquisition.
In a stackable enclosure, it combines sensors, actuators, power supply, and software. The base configuration includes GPS, an accelerometer, and a temperature sensor. Additional modules can be stacked without soldering via a proprietary stack bus for instance, modules for cellular communication, CAN, climate sensing, or energy measurement. The energy module records current, voltage, and frequency, capturing load profiles and power quality. The cube thus adapts to any task, from an industrial machine to a measurement station in an island grid.
Data is transmitted to a server via Wi-Fi or via a cellular module where Wi-Fi is unavailable where it is stored and analyzed.
We support deployment, analyze the data, and derive actionable recommendations. This reflects the same systemic approach as our consulting services.
The concept originates from the BSF Box (RENUBOX Hermetia), an experimental environment for Black Soldier Fly rearing. There, a biological system was made technically accessible for the first time using sensors, control systems, and data transmission. The RENUQUBE applies this same principle to machines, industrial plants, and operational sites.
Back to Tonga: The greatest uncertainty in the original planning lay in the load data. Today, using the RENUQUBE, we would run a measurement campaign prior to any design phase. Across several weeks, we would capture actual load profiles, voltage and frequency fluctuations, and ambient temperatures in battery and technical rooms, on every island and transmitted via cellular network. This transforms an estimate with 75% confidence into a precise, measured dataset.
DATA AVAILABILITY . LIMITED DATA
Project documentations and measurement campaigns contain extensive field surveys, measurement series, simulations, and cost models.
HYPOTHESIS · What is our approach?
A project only works if technology, financing, and operations are planned as a unified system. Optimizing individual components in isolation merely shifts the problem elsewhere.
Case Study – Tonga: The upper limit for solar power generation was determined not by solar irradiation, but by grid constraints. Standard grid feeding accommodates roughly 20% to 30% solar penetration. Beyond that, energy storage is required; above 50%, grid-forming inverters are essential to allow diesel generators to shut down entirely during peak production hours. This is critical, as peak solar availability occurs at noon, whereas maximum energy demand peaks in the evening.
EXPERIMENT · How do we proceed?
Unsere BeratunOur consulting services follow the full life cycle of a project:
Measurement & Field Surveys → Concept & Simulation → Financial Viability → Tendering → EPC Implementation → Operations & Assessment
We step in wherever the client needs us, while keeping all subsequent phases in view from day one.
Case Study – Tonga: Instead of a standardized solution, three distinct concepts were developed and simulated on an hourly basis:
'Eua: 200 kWp without storage. Solar peaks are curtailed to maintain sufficient spinning reserve from diesel generators.
Lifuka: 550 kWp PV, approximately 660 kWh storage, and grid-forming inverters. The goal was to achieve the first proof of over 50% solar fraction in a utility grid.
Vava'u: No capacity expansion, but rather remediation, documentation, and training ensuring existing infrastructure works reliably before adding new capacity.
To simplify maintenance, training, and spare parts management, components were standardized across all islands. Battery technology remained deliberately open and was evaluated against lifetime, transport, environmental risks, and maintenance requirements, not merely upfront cost. These findings directly informed the international tender documentation.
RESULT · What is the outcome?
The result is a high-confidence basis for decision-making: a concept that is bankable, a tender process that yields directly comparable bids, a project that is constructible, or an objective, empirical evaluation of existing assets.
Case Study – Tonga: The conceptual phase produced a total planned capacity of approximately 1.3 MWp solar PV across eight islands, offsetting roughly 478,000 liters of diesel fuel annually, equivalent to savings of around USD 470,000 per year. Direct benefits reach over 26,000 people. On Lifuka, the simulated solar fraction reached approximately 52%. Calculated levelized costs of electricity (LCOE) were USD 0.09 to 0.13 per kWh for solar PV, compared to USD 0.38 to 0.57 per kWh for diesel generation.
APPLICATION · What do we offer?
Consulting for Development Banks We prepare energy projects to ensure they are bankable, tender-ready, and commercially viable throughout operations. This encompasses on-site field surveys, feasibility studies, system design, and the preparation of tender documentation compliant with international donor standards. Our team regularly acts as technical consultants for institutions including the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Technical Project Development for Enterprises We develop utility-scale and commercial projects featuring solar PV, energy storage, hybrid systems, and off-grid networks—from initial site selection to EPC execution. Drawing on a track record of approximately 1 GW in managed projects, our planning ensures constructability from day one.
Technical Due Diligence For investors, buyers, and lenders, we independently verify whether assets and operating companies meet their documented projections. We assess the physical condition of existing plants, test the plausibility of baseline assumptions, evaluate data quality and technical documentation, and scrutinize operational strategies.
Measurement Campaigns via RENUQUBE Where empirical data is lacking, we measure it directly: high-resolution load profiles, power quality metrics, ambient environmental conditions, or operational machine events. We go beyond delivering raw datasets by providing in-depth analysis and concrete, actionable engineering recommendations.
KNOWLEDGE · What have we learned?
Constructing an asset is rarely the primary challenge. The true difficulty lies in ensuring it operates reliably for years and that local personnel are equipped to maintain it.
This requires translating requirements from one reality into another: transforming local human needs, donor regulations, and site-level physical constraints into precise technical parameters.
Case Study – Tonga:
From:
Fish refrigeration · Laundry · Lighting for nocturnal handicraft · Complex, incomprehensible tariff structures:
24/7 power availability · Sized storage capacity · Grid-forming inverters · Standardized components · Structured training · Defined operational responsibilities
The success of this translation stems directly from our team's cross-disciplinary structure. Biology approaches the project as an ecosystem where every variable is interconnected. Engineering translates those systemic dynamics into precise setpoints, control loops, and bankable metrics. This dual perspective defines the RENUTION ethos.
For Technical Due Diligence, the core takeaway is clear: The true value of an asset does not reside in its theoretical capacity, but in whether it performs consistently and whether local teams possess the capacity to operate it.
TRANSFER · Where do we apply this knowledge?
Development Finance: Energy projects for the ADB and other financial donors on islands and in remote regions
Industry and Commerce: Solar and storage projects, microgrids, and off-grid power supply for manufacturing, agriculture, and mining
Investors: Technical Due Diligence for assets, portfolios, and companies
Machinery and Plant Equipment: Event detection and condition monitoring with the RENUQUBE
Autonomous Systems: For example, solar installations on remote islands in Tonga
Problems do not adhere to specific disciplines. That is why solutions shouldn't either.
Perhaps the next problem begins with a question.
Not every challenge is already fully defined. And not every question comes with an obvious answer.
If you are facing a technical or systemic challenge where exactly that is the case, it might be an intriguing place to start.
