GPS Group History
It all started in 2014 in the city of Guayaquil, where GPS GROUP was born, a consulting and strategic management company that offered services to the agro-export and agro-industrial sector.
After two years of advice and management, in April 2016 we assumed the mission of making the massification of electrification and automation of the shrimp sector in Ecuador viable.
Aquamar S.A, directed by its president, Engineer Enrico Delfini, was the first company to trust us for this electrification project, making Aquamar S.A the pioneer in the use of electricity and state-of-the-art technology for shrimp production.
This project forced us to assume the responsibility of leading negotiations with the Government with the aim of achieving an electricity rate, in order to be able to replace the use of fossil fuel with electricity (public hydroelectric source network).
In February 2017, with the help of the State and the support of the main Producers Guilds of Manabí, El Oro, the National Chamber of Aquaculture and the technical support of DELTA DELFINI, we fulfilled the 1st. Milestone in our mission, getting the Ministry of Energy to establish as a public policy a specific electricity rate that is competitive with the price of diesel at that time.
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Not satisfied with this first milestone, we went for more, it is for this reason that we found ourselves in the need to lead the articulation between the Ministry of Energy and the shrimp sector, so what was born as a vision and initiative of the private sector and that in its At that time it had the support of the main shrimp exporting and producing groups in the country, as well as several multilateral organizations such as CAF and the IDB, it was finally crystallized in November 2017, the date on which it was achieved through an agreement of cooperation with the Ministry of Aquaculture, Ministry of Energy and the CNEL to be able to solve some of the main challenges for the electrification of the aquaculture sector in Ecuador, such as:
Design a public investment plan for electrical infrastructure for public use (sub-transmission networks, distribution and substations)
that ensure the supply in quantity and quality to the shrimp farms of Ecuador.
Once this was achieved, our feasibility and engineering teams took on a new challenge, that of designing and making viable the electrification projects of the main shrimp exporting and producing groups in Ecuador, as well as the implementation of pilot aeration and pumping projects. 100% electric and automated that took as a reference all the experience and technology applied by the AQUAMAR farm (today Exporcambrit of the Brito Group).
The success of these pilot projects, as well as the effective execution of designs, studies, analysis of economic, environmental, and social impacts, and the lack of a sense of urgency in the public sector, motivated us as a company, as well as our main customers, to pursue a new mission:
Accelerate the construction of electrical infrastructure for public use (sub-transmission networks, distribution and substations), through the design and implementation of a strategic alliance model between the aquaculture sector and the state.
So that in parallel to public investment, to be able to finance and build from the private sector the electrical public infrastructure, returning that private financing in future consumption of electrical energy (CNEL EP spreadsheet.)
For the year 2020, in the midst of a pandemic, we made a radical change, in which we went from being an advisory and management company to becoming a business ecosystem that develops turnkey projects, thanks to the trust of our main clients, shareholders, local and international technology providers, is that we made the firm decision to initiate an aggressive plan of investment, vertical integration and evolution, recruiting the best professionals in the electrical and construction sectors, maintaining our essence as an advisory-management company, with Focus on quality and service, always with the utmost transparency and seriousness, selecting the most proactive people with attitude, accompanied by desire and experience, aimed at solving our clients’ problems, generating more than 200 jobs, through the constitution of 2 new companies: Import Green and Green Energy.
Thanks to this change, we received a mandate from our shareholders-investors: to be 100% autonomous and 100% responsible for ensuring the integration, construction, start-up, operation and maintenance, offering maximum safety, reliability, quality, speed and competitiveness to our aquaculture farm electrification and automation projects. Thus becoming an integral ecosystem capable of offering our clients 360-degree solutions in a model called turnkey.
This has allowed our clients to have a single team responsible for the feasibility, engineering, procurement, construction, operation and maintenance of the project, which aims to lead the energy, technological, digital and ecological transition of the aquaculture sector in Ecuador and specify 40,000 hectares in projects until the year 2030.
In this way we support and ensure the leadership of the Ecuadorian shrimp sector worldwide and be an example to the world in reducing the carbon footprint from the private sector that generates the most foreign exchange for the country, thus mitigating the effects of climate change, generating a new value in our exportable offer under the concept and certification of climate friendly shrimp.
Our investments included the purchase of equipment, machinery, vehicles, trucks, cranes, construction camps, state-of-the-art technology, warehouses, inventory and the start-up of the 1st. Phase of our own aerator control panel assembly factory, pumping systems, automatic transfers for backup system and synchronisms.
In June of the same year 2020, GPS continued to maintain the same participation and leadership of the main exporting groups, once again achieving our mandate, which aimed to make financing and execution a reality at the speed, quality and cost of the private sector through the publication of resolution 001/2020 of the Ministry of Energy.
This transcendental milestone in the history of the Ecuadorian energy sector had to be complemented with the design and implementation of instructions within the National Electricity Corporation CNEL EP, which after many months of joint work was a fact in September of the year 2021.
These instructions for the approval of electrification projects in the aquaculture sector, which are in force to this day, allow our clients and the aquaculture sector in general to plan and execute their electrification and automation projects, accelerating their productivity, profitability, competitiveness and sustainability, offering the world not only quality shrimp but also the most sustainable one.
In December of the same year, our Board of Directors approved a new investment focused on doubling our board assembly, storage and inventory capacity, in order to accelerate our response to the explosive growth in our project demand.
In January 2022, Import Green and Green Energy signed procurement and construction contracts for more than 12,000 hectares that are being executed and that must be completed before 2024, under the turnkey modality, being fully responsible for the construction of : public and private subtransmission lines, private 69-13.8KV substations, distribution, control, automation, complementary civil works, start-up, operation and post-sale service. These projects represent more than 150 MW of installed power, which in turn will generate for CNEL EP an annual demand of more than 650 million kilowatt hours and an annual billing of more than USD 40 million.
Likewise, the start-up of these megaprojects will allow the replacement of more than 43 million gallons of diesel per year. In this way, GPS GROUP currently ratifies its commitment to the aquaculture of the future, also managing to incorporate leading technology manufacturers at a local and global level into this commitment, cooperating in the development and application of solutions tailored to the sector and each project.
On the other hand, we understand that oxygen plays a fundamental role in shrimp production and today it is crucial to produce more with less, fattening in the shortest time, with the lowest cost and in the most sustainable way possible, automating processes and ensuring the maximum operational efficiency. Beyond selling, equipment, technology and services, we sell an entire industry that transforms clean energy into oxygen, that oxygen allows our clients to be more competitive, more profitable and friendly to the environment.
Today we have great support from local and international financial institutions, who together with us offer solutions to finance and accelerate the decarbonization of the sector, the automation and digitalization of its processes, but above all to ensure the sustainability of its businesses with the maximum social, environmental and economic benefits.
Our imminent challenge as GPS consists of satisfying the expectations of our clients, strengthening our current capacities, developing our human talent to the maximum, creating new technologies together with our manufacturing partners, strengthening our public-private cooperation agenda, attracting new talents and democratizing access to clean energy and state-of-the-art technology through financial solutions and the use of renewable energies.
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