Cleantech success: Clear Blue Technologies expands into markets across Africa with its smart energy solutions

Expanding into new markets isn’t something that Clear Blue Technologies does all alone. The Canadian clean technology firm has found customers in countries across Africa looking for its robust, cost-effective hybrid energy system through its business-development ventures with leading companies, connections with local agents on the ground and help from the Trade Commissioner Service (TCS) and its partners.

“Growth opportunities come through these relationships,” says Miriam Tuerk, CEO of the public company. Diversifying its products as well as its markets, including through partnerships with European companies looking to do business in Africa, have been important strategies in its success, she says. “Diversification is critical.” 

Clear Blue delivers clean, managed, wireless power to meet global needs for reliable, low-cost, solar and hybrid energy in applications such as lighting, telecommunications, security and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Its technology powers thousands of systems across 45 countries.

Tuerk, an electrical engineer, founded Clear Blue in 2011 in Toronto, Ontario along with her husband John, the company’s Chief Power Officer, and Mark Windrim, its Chief Technology Officer. Clear Blue launched its first products in 2014 to control, monitor and maintain off-grid power systems used in infrastructure projects in North America. The Canadian company next targeted Africa and expanded into sectors such as telecommunications, street lighting, rail, traffic management and oil and gas, providing remote, cloud-based systems that improve the reliability of devices that use renewable energy and extend their life. 

Today the company has 30 staff, and it’s forecasting revenues of $7.5 million for 2025. It recently expanded its product offerings in a move that Tuerk calls “Clear Blue 2.0” to include entire energy systems. “We deliver energy as a service, which consists of the brains of the system together with batteries and solar panels and all the rest that comes with it.”

Demand for such technology in Africa “is exponential,” Tuerk says. “Africa is going to have the largest resource base, it's got the highest population growth, and it's got the largest amount of young people. The opportunity is immense.” Today the continent represents 70% of the company’s business, while 20% is in the United States and 10% is in Canada.  

Clear Blue’s history with the TCS has included assistance from Diana Cartwright, a Trade Commissioner in the TCS Regional Office for Ontario who covers cleantech. She introduced the company to many contacts, in collaboration with TCS colleagues around the world covering the cleantech sector. Cartwright, who specializes in clean energy and supports companies doing business in Africa, says connecting with Trade Commissioners is essential for entrepreneurs. “The better we know our clients and understand what they're doing, the more they are top-of-mind for us when opportunities come,” she explains. Our Trade Commissioners can provide expert trade advice, information on TCS funding and accelerator programs, and support at trade missions and events around the world. We assist companies in preparing for international markets, evaluating their potential for success, and resolving business challenges abroad.

She notes that while many cleantech companies in Canada focus on the United States, given the ease of exporting there, as well as language and cultural ties. diversifying into new markets reduces reliance on one region and creates room for sustainable growth. Moving into markets abroad requires a strong diversification strategy. “Choose a market and take your time, get to know it and have an initial call with a Trade Commissioner in the field to learn more,” Cartwright advises, noting that funding programs from the TCS and its partners can help.

Clear Blue has received TCS assistance finding qualified contacts in foreign markets such as Sweden. Uffe Galsgaard, a Trade Commissioner in Stockholm working at the Embassy of Canada to Sweden who helps Canadian companies in the information and communications technologies sector, notes that Canada and Sweden have significant business development connections. “Sweden is probably the country in Europe that has the most similar business culture to Canada's in many respects.” 

In 2022, while finalizing the acquisition of a Swedish technology company that manufactured its power supply systems, Clear Blue needed legal advice on Sweden’s labour laws, and Tuerk contacted the TCS for a recommendation. Galsgaard offered qualified in-market contacts, and the company got the information it was looking for.  

“We reached out and we quickly got an answer. It was so helpful,” Tuerk recalls.

Galsgaard says such assistance is typical of the services the TCS provides to Canadian companies doing business in new markets.

Clear Blue has growing ties with Europe, Tuerk says. It entered into a partnership last autumn with France-based Eutelsat Group to expand and improve smart energy solutions across Africa, in even the most energy-constrained environments. 

Eutelsat is integrating Clear Blue’s smart energy management capabilities into its power optimization platforms to offer reliable and sustainable solutions, Tuerk says. “Connecting the unconnected across Africa represents the largest global growth potential for connectivity services.”  

Trade Commissioners on the ground in countries such as South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania and Kenya have been “very, very helpful” in linking the company with potential customers, she notes. For instance, they made introductions for Clear Blue at trade shows such as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, and AfricaCom in Cape Town, South Africa. 

The company also benefits from being part of Canada pavilions at such shows, which costs Clear Blue a fraction of what it would pay for a full booth, Tuerk points out. “I couldn't attend otherwise.”  

The company has also received support from the CanExport SMEs program to assist with its global expansion. “It’s the only funding that actually helps you pay for marketing, which is quite expensive,” she says.  

Clear Blue is looking for more joint ventures with European companies looking to move into emerging markets, she says. “There’s a lot of synergies there.” Global awareness of Canadian expertise in cleantech helps, Tuerk adds. “Canada has a good, trustworthy brand in the marketplace.”