PayGas plans to install 52 Pay-as-you-gas stations in SA

Cape Town-based energy tech startup PayGas is partnering with Afrox, South Africa’s leading Liquified Petroleum Gas company, to roll-out 52 Pay-as-you-gas™ stations in townships across the country.

The partnership will result in the deployment of several pay-as-you-gas™ stations across the country over the next 36 months. The startup has currently rolled out a pilot version of the pay-as-you-gas™ station with Easigas (RUBIS Group) in Delft, Cape Town, servicing more than 6 800 low-income beneficiaries in the township.

In addition, PayGas has recently opened two new stations in Nyanga and Philippi and will assist in curbing the Covid-19 pandemic within the townships.

Founder and CEO of PayGas, Philippe Hoeblich comments on the new partnership.

“With Afrox’s supply, support and expertise, we can now execute on an ambitious plan to roll out several PayGas stations catering to close to 200,000 customers across major townships in South Africa in the next 36 months. I founded PayGas in response to a gaping need for flexible affordable cooking energy for lower-income households in the urban area.”

The technology

Launched in June 2018, PayGas is a pay-as-you-go Ussd software payment platform combined with a cashless refilling station and mobile app, connected to a barcode on customers’ cylinders.

The startup successfully developed a proprietary technology that fractions gas purchases into smaller quantities making the purchase process more flexible and hence affordable to low-income households in South Africa.

With Eskom implementing loadshedding during the bitter winter months in the country, PayGas’ stations will offer users access to access a cheap and safe source of energy with LPG (liquid petroleum gas) via cashless technology.

From 10 July, PayGas users located in Delft, Cape Town, will be able to purchase a ‘Voucher Flash‘ from any nearby spazashop. Using the voucher, users can head to the closest Pay-as-you-gas™ station and use the PayGas app to fill their cylinder for as little as R10 ($0.5).

PayGas plans to launch stations in Gugulethu, Langa, and Kayamandi in August and September 2020. Johannesburg will receive three additional stations before December 2020 and two additional stations are in the pipeline to be implemented in Durban over 2021.

Clean energy

The South African energy tech startup offers a clean and sustainable solution to cooking and is beneficial to the environment. Their product is estimated to save 800kg of wood per year per township household and pollutes 20% less when compared to the use of kerosene.

The startup has bagged a number of major awards in the energy industry due to its disruptive technology model and for being a key player in sustainable energy delivery for the City of Cape Town. In November 2019, PayGas was awarded the Clean Cooking Challenge of ENGIE at AFRICARENA (see this story).

In February 2020, PayGas was awarded by WESGRO  and the CAP 40 in two categories, Smart Cities & Sustainability and Entrepreneur of the Year

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Featured image: Pay-as-you-gas station (Supplied)