Introducing Daniel Maduagwu, an adept industry leader and the Founder and CEO of 3KM Energy Systems. With strong strategic planning, management, and productivity enhancer skills blended with two decades of expertise, Daniel has been associated with several top companies over these years. At 3KM Energy, Daniel Maduagwu and his team develop solar energy systems, particularly designed for commercial, industrial and residential use. In this insightful interview, Daniel speaks about his major achievements over his career path, challenges, and his insights on building innovative products.
Major Milestones-We asked Daniel Maduagwu
We started the session by asking, “What were the key turning points in your career that led you to your current role as an industry leader?”
Daniel shared, “During a successful career in telecommunications and telecom tower infrastructure services for over 16 years, I was selected to head a project to transition some of the telecom tower infrastructure locations within the company’s portfolio from Diesel generator power to renewable energy. At the time, the project aimed to lower operating costs for the business. The implementation of that project was a turning point in my career as it created awareness of what solar energy can achieve.
Through gaining a deeper understanding of solar energy, I recognized its value in terms of sustainability and the environment on a commercial scale. This sparked my interest in developing solar power solutions for businesses. As the Head of Operations with Daystar Power Group in Nigeria, I worked to innovate the company’s operations framework and utilize technology to provide exceptional service. With the support of my team and senior management, we experienced significant growth, expanding to over 260 locations in 5 countries. This role also exposed me to opportunities in the distributed energy solutions sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. This was a major turning point in my career – leaving the telecommunications industry completely to the renewable energy industry.
With the huge potential in the Nigerian power sector, occasioned by the huge energy deficit in the country, I accepted the opportunity to Join the Inlaks Group – a financial services provider in Nigeria that provides ATM solutions to over 2000 Bank branches, as the Managing Director of the renewable energy business.”
He added, “I successfully crafted a strong team of business development executives and solar power engineers, enabling the growth of the Nigerian energy business. We accomplished $6 million worth of solar energy projects within a year, offering innovative solutions to various industries. This experience fueled my passion for clean energy technology. I aim to revolutionize Nigeria’s energy sector with hydrogen fuel technology. Through my 3KM Energy System and partnerships with UK companies, I am making progress towards this goal.
We are confident of building a $ 100 million industry that will transform the Nigerian energy market and introduce a very clean and reliable energy systems that will lead the way in enhancing the carbon-neutral efforts of the Nigerian government. The aim is to introduce Hydrogen energy generators that will replace the use of fossil fuel-based generators that have a very huge polluting effect on the environment. For me, the transition from telecommunications to renewable energy was the point where my career took a turn towards my current leadership role in the renewable energy industry in Nigeria.”
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
Every business faces certain challenging phases. We asked, “Can you discuss a particularly challenging period in your professional life and the lessons you learned from it?”
Be replied, “My exit from Inlaks Energy was a very challenging period in my professional life. Having built a strong sales pipeline with my team engineering and sales teams, the COVID-19 era economic climate in Nigeria created an exodus of businesses from Nigeria at the time, and our operations at Inlaks Energy were affected, due to lack of funding. Seeing my team leave without any clear future in sight was challenging for me.
As a leader, I focused on how to ensure my team members had their professional futures back on track. I constantly kept in touch with the team and provided any support needed to navigate that trying time. I was especially troubled by the bias towards women in energy technology and the difficulty they faced in securing engineering positions in the field.”
“With a clear desire to change that narrative, I developed a network that enabled women electrical engineers to find placements in renewable energy technology positions that expose them to fieldwork, either in the project implementation environment or in the operations and maintenance environment, where they can work alongside their male colleagues to develop and grow their passion for the clean energy technology.
One big lesson that I took away from this situation was to ensure equal opportunity for all, irrespective of gender. Each person’s passion for success can propel their knowledge and success beyond the views of the African traditional thinking that the female gender is weak in some respects. I have seen them thrive in some areas where their male counterparts haven’t fared so well.” Daniel added.
Breakthrough Products
Daniel Maduagwu were intrigued to learn more about the current services of Daniel Maduagwu’s organization. So, we asked, “Could you elaborate on your company’s primary offerings and any groundbreaking services or products you plan to introduce?”
Daniel Maduagwu passionately responded, “We are currently involved in the provision of Capex-free solar energy adoption for commercial and industrial energy off-takers in Nigeria. This model enables companies to transition to the use of solar energy as their primary energy source as against the traditional grid electricity or diesel generator as an alternative.
Behind this product offering is the desire to enable businesses to lower their carbon emission footprint and help roll back the negative effects of GHG on our environment while adopting a sustainable mindset. We have built an innovative product known as PaaS, that makes the adoption of solar energy affordable for businesses.
The huge success of this product has encouraged us to venture into the development of hydrogen fuel technology within not just the industrial environment, but also within the automotive industry by setting up refueling stations across the breadth of Nigeria to ensure ease of adoption of the hydrogen fuel technology.”
Offering Value And Ease Of Operations
We further asked, “How has the advent of digital technologies altered the operational framework of your business, and what adaptations have been crucial for you?”
Daniel Maduagwu continued, “Coming from the telecommunications industry where you must travel long distances to identify causes of faults and failures in the network. The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in our predictive maintenance planning has been transforming. Traditionally, the use of software alone makes the development and design of renewable energy operations framework solutions very easy.
However, the introduction of IoT into the system design, and operations planning of our product offerings ensures a higher rate of success for our business through increased customer confidence.”
Daniel Maduagwu added, “Earlier than now, our teams travel long distances to capture important operational data that enables us to make long-term operational planning decisions. However, with our adoption of the Circadian Cortex, an IoT remote asset monitoring and management platform, we have been able to cut the long travels by introducing a Network Management Centre (NMC) that uses this solution for predictive maintenance planning, where we can easily access each solar power site remotely and capture all required operating data and insight.
The use of this technology has enabled us to deliver cutting-edge services that have ensured maximum cost savings for our customers and improved our operational efficiency. We are expanding the scope of our relationship with Circadian Technologies, to include the use of their innovative cost savings reporting tool, to show our customers how our products deliver long-term value and power cost predictability for their business.”
Adapting To The Latest Developments
To ensure a competitive edge, it is crucial to adapt to the latest market developments and trends. We asked, “What approaches do you take to gauge and adapt to evolving market conditions, and how do these impact your strategic planning?”
Daniel Maduagwu shared, “The ever-changing landscape and fast-paced technological changes can overwhelm those who do not make a deliberate effort to gauge the evolving market conditions in the technology space in Nigeria. To adapt to these evolutions in the clean energy market in Nigeria, we are constantly keeping ourselves abreast with information on new technologies and industry insights.
Daniel Maduagwu have created a market analysis team in our company 3KM Energy Systems Limited, to analyze the impact that macro and micro economic adjustments in government policies and laws will have on the overall outlook of the market over a short to long-term basis. The outcome of the analysis provides us with the data for our strategic planning. Regularly attending workshops and conferences and events around the climate technology landscape also serves as a ready source of insight into the recent and future market conditions.”
Daniel Maduagwu added, “As an example, after the recent adjustment in the Nigerian Electricity Act, we had a strategic session to understand the areas of the adjustment in the act that opens new opportunities to us. Working alongside our market analysis team, we have started working to develop new partnerships with electricity distribution companies in the country. Certainly, the market evolution occasioned by this new policy is a game changer for climate technology companies in the country.”
Sustaining Motivation In the Workplace
To understand the perspective of Daniel Maduagwu on ensuring a motivated workforce, we asked, “What initiatives have you implemented to cultivate and sustain a motivated and engaged workforce?”
Daniel Maduagwu responds, “Having a young and vibrant workforce comes with the challenge of keeping them motivated in an environment where many distractions exist. Our approach to cultivating and sustaining motivation in the workplace is built on our belief in autonomy. I believe that autonomy is the key to fostering motivation in any workplace.
By letting our employees take control of their work, and the decisions they make, we see them map a clear path to their goals. This keeps them very motivated and engaged. In addition to that, we ensure we build strong competencies in our teams by training them regularly and equipping them with the tools they need to get the job done. We have created a culture of continuous improvement in the organization to ensure our teams are well-motivated and engaged.
We have also built an environment where open communication allows each team member to express their ideas, and those ideas are given full attention. When any idea, irrespective of the source within the team leads to an innovation, we celebrate such wins, even if it comes with many mistakes along the way.”
A True Champion
We ended the interview by asking, “When considering the future, what legacy do you aspire for your business to leave, and what concrete steps are you taking towards this goal?”
Daniel Maduagwu shared, “We want to leave a legacy of building a business that has championed the adoption of clean energy solutions in every sector of the Nigerian economy. Our strong affection for green hydrogen is an area we see will revolutionize the energy climate in Nigeria. We are already taking steps in this direction by working with a UK firm that is a strong player in the green hydrogen technology market to implement some of their products into the Nigerian market.
We hope to launch some of these innovative products before the end of 2024. We have very strong confidence in the future of 3KM Energy Systems as being a leader in the green hydrogen market within sub-Saharan Africa.”
Follow Daniel Maduagwu on LinkedIn.
Find 3KM Energy Systems on LinkedIn and visit their website https://3kmenergy.com/.
Innovating for a Sustainable Future: An Exclusive Interview with Henrik Pryter -https://entrepreneurmirror.com/meet-henrik-pryter/
Elevating Business English In A Progressive Environment With Wordy Affairs: Luann Parker-https://entrepreneurmirror.com/meet-luann-parker/
Best Place to Visit Around the World-https://entrepreneurmirror.com/best-place-to-visit-around-the-world/
