XITE ENERGY RACING brings lasting light to a Greenland school
School children in Kangerlussuaq have grown used to the sound of putting the light on in the classroom. Teachers are well acquainted with the noise which accompanies powering a computer up. Or putting the kettle on.
That sound is the sound of making electricity at Kangerlussuaq School, Greenland. That sound is a diesel-powered generator.
Until now.
As part of a pioneering project, delivered in partnership with eco-smart technology business myenergi, Bristol racing driver and sustainability pioneer Oli Bennett will help to change the lives of students and teachers in Kangerlussuaq .
Later this month, Oli’s Extreme E race team – XITE ENERGY RACING – and myenergi’s sales director Cris Chapman, will oversee the installation of a revolutionary solar power set-up when they join some of the biggest names in global motorsport to tackle Greenland’s round of Extreme E later this month.
The school’s diesel generator will fall silent for the last time on Wednesday August 25. The following day, Oli and myenergi will be joined by teachers and students as they switch the school to solar. And silence.
“When we started racing Extreme E this year, we did it to raise awareness of what we humans are doing to the planet,” said Oli.
“Nowhere is the climate crisis more obvious than in Greenland and the Arctic. It’s expected that, sometime in the next 30 years, the Arctic will be ice-free in the month of September. That’s insane.
“For the majority of the planet, we read about these things and they’re happening somewhere else. They’re somebody else’s problem. Going to Kangerlussuaq in Greenland, you’re confronted with the climate crisis right before your very eyes. A scientific report from the United Nations was described as a ‘code red’ for humanity this week.
“Nowhere is that more obvious than at Greenland’s melting glaciers. And then there’s the horrible irony of the extensive use of diesel generators; Greenland doesn’t have much mains electric, so they’re accelerating a problem which is both local to the them and global to us all.
“At the start of the year, we identified Greenland as somewhere we – along with our partners myenergi – could make a difference to people’s lives. We need to educate the next generation and what better way to do that than show them how a school can be powered from a sustainable source.
“I’m really excited about this. To be going somewhere right on the frontline in the fight against climate change and making a genuine difference is massive.”
XITE ENERGY RACING and myenergi will install a 5kW ground-mounted solar array with an accompanying 5.2kWh battery storage system. The myenergi eddi power diverter will utilise excess solar energy to heat the school’s water.
All of this can be controlled through the myenergi home control app. Crucially, this app will also allow the school children to watch energy levels rising as the sun comes up.
Lessons have rarely been as powerful or pivotal as this one.
“It really is that important,” said Oli. “Decarbonisation is such a major part of our future and using electric vehicles – similar to the ones we’ll be racing in Extreme E in Greenland this month – is so important. But perhaps a bigger part is making the global population understand the need to switch to renewable energy sources at home and work.”
Jordan Brompton, co-founder and CMO of myenergi, commented: “As principal sponsor of XITE ENERGY RACING, we’re committed to taking sustainability to the masses and helping to inspire widespread behavioural change.
“While being involved in the championship has provided an unparalleled platform to share our vision, we knew that there was more we could offer. Renowned for our eco-smart home energy technologies, having the opportunity to work alongside Oli to transform a local school into a hub for renewable energy demonstrates what the future could – and should look like.
“Thanks to state-of-the-art renewable technologies, this project will enable the school to operate completely off-grid – zero carbon, zero reliance on mains supply, zero utility costs. It demonstrates precisely why embracing sustainability is such an important part of the global energy transition.”
Greenland’s Extreme E round, the Arctic X Prix runs in Kangerlussuaq on August 28/29.
