Independent advisory — distributed renewable energy
Sol Optimo — investment readiness for solar minigrids in frontier and fragile markets
Founder + operator + frontier. A serial founder and operator bringing fifteen years of company-building to the hardest energy-access markets — from early-stage developers raising their first round to established operators redesigning for viability. Regions served: Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Myanmar.
Track record
Tamarso (co-founder — Somalia, Kenya & Ethiopia): secured Somalia's first dedicated minigrid operator licence; 3 minigrids operating and 4 in contract stage within a 150-site pipeline; selected under AMAP 2.0 and CFA.
Mandalay Yoma (de facto CEO — Myanmar): ran a 34-site solar-BESS minigrid operation through the post-2021 crisis, cutting costs about 25% and lifting collections about 30% while keeping the portfolio operating.
Earlier ventures (founder): VvE Centraal, Stokhos and House of Salts — fifteen years founding and scaling companies to market. Education: TU Delft MicroMasters (energy); BBA, Saxion University of Applied Sciences.
Headline record: 41+ minigrids operated, 25,000+ households served, 150-site pipeline.
Service lines
- Financial Modelling & Investment Readiness — transparent, auditable models built to a DFI standard.
- Policy, Regulatory & Tariff Advisory — minigrid tariff design and cross-subsidy structuring, including anchor-load and reverse-anchor models, under weak or ambiguous frameworks.
- Feasibility & Investment-Grade Technical Studies — hybrid solar-BESS design and optimisation, load forecasting and site assessment under frontier constraints.
- Operations, Maintenance & Asset Management — prepaid metering, anti-bypass revenue protection, remote monitoring and portfolio performance management.
- Early-Stage & First-of-Kind Advisory — company-building discipline for developers raising a first round or building a first-of-kind project.
- Commercial Model & Turnaround Advisory — redesigning the business and revenue model of DRE operations that aren't yet viable, for cost recovery and financeability.
Contact
Wilfred Boerrigter · willem@soloptimo.com · linkedin.com/in/wilfredboerrigter. Available to mobilise at short notice for DRE and minigrid preparation assignments across frontier and fragile markets.