Climate Fund Managers leads $74m solar investment
The Norwegian solar development and investment company, Empower New Energy, signed an agreement to raise $74 million from a consortium led by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), manager of the Climate Investor One (CIO) fund.
The partnership plans to develop, finance, own and operate an initial 150 MW of solar projects in Africa over the next three years. This milestone will see Empower become one of the leading renewable investment platform companies serving the commercial and industrial (C&I) market in its target markets in Africa.
“This new investment capital will enable Empower and our project partners to solarise more than 50 African companies, reducing electricity costs and CO2 emissions and creating thousands of local jobs. This is the largest single capital raise in Africa’s solar C&I market so far,” said Terje Osmundsen, founder and CEO of Empower New Energy.
At the signing, Andrew Johnstone, CEO of Climate Fund Managers said, “Over the past few years, Empower has built a unique and scalable investment model for Africa’s C&I market that fits well with the business philosophy of Climate Fund Managers. We are confident that this transaction lays a solid foundation for building a leader in the African renewable energy market.”
Empower New Energy is a solar platform investment company that raised its first capital of $7.9 million in 2019 from ElectriFi, Norfund and 12 private investors. The company has so far carried out eight solar investments for industrial and agricultural off-takers in Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria and has signed contracts worth more than $30 million with other off-takers in Egypt, Morocco, Ghana and Nigeria.
“As an early investor in Empower New Energy, we have been delighted to see how the company has already provided companies with clean, reliable and affordable solar energy that help cut both costs and emissions. We look forward to continue our partnership in contributing to sustainable growth in the commercial and industrial sector in Africa in the years to come,” says Anders Blom, vice president for clean energy at Norfund.
Norfund is investing $12.5 million in this capital raise. In addition, the investor consortium is joined by Janeiro Energy AS, an investment company partly owned by Svein Harald Øygard, a profiled Norwegian economist and investor.
In addition to the equity capital, the consortium will aim to raise debt, enabling Empower to invest a minimum of $100 million over the next three years. This will enable the company to develop, build, own and operate more than 150 MW of solar projects (including batteries) for C&I users in Africa.