Page 10 - AfrElec Week 42

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec

Scatec Solar raises African exposure

with acquisition of SN Power

AFRICA NORWAY’S Scatec Solar has bought SN Power, sub-Saharan Africa. Scatec Solar will further
a leading hydropower developer and IPP, from accelerate growth and have a project pipeline of
the Norfund in a $1.16bn deal that gives it access 9.5 GW across solar, hydro, wind and storage.
to 1.4 GW of hydro assets in Uganda, the Philip- “Norfund’s investment in SN Power has
pines and Laos, and a 2.5-GW project pipeline contributed to job creation, improved living
across Asia and Africa. conditions and avoided carbon emissions. By
The combined company will have assets in 14 mobilising private capital in SN Power, we can
countries and 3.3 GW of gross capacity in oper- recycle significant funds for new investments,
ation and under construction. When all plants demonstrating the effectiveness of using devel-
are in full operation from early 2021, the median opment aid to invest in clean energy in develop-
annual production is expected to be 4.1 TWh. ing countries,” says Tellef Thorleifsson, CEO of
The acquisition from Norwegian government Norfund.
investment vehicle Norfund forms an important As part of the transaction, the parties will
part of Scatec Solar’s ambitions to become a establish a new joint venture for SN Power’s
global player in solar, hydro, wind and storage. sub-Saharan Africa hydro assets and to develop
“Hydropower and solar PV are comple- the hydropower pipeline in the region. Norfund
mentary technologies, resulting in new project will retain a 49% stake and Scatec Solar hold 51%
opportunities, for instance floating solar on in the JV and Scatec Solar will be the operator.
hydro reservoirs. With this transaction we see In 2019, SN Power earned revenues of
great potential in broader project origination NOK1.766bn ($186mn) and EBITDA of
and geographical expansion into growth mar- NOK1.149bn ($121mn).
kets in Southeast Asia and sub-Sahara Africa. SN The acquisition is fully funded through a
Power adds scale and significant cash flow from combination of cash available from Scatec Solar’s
operating plants and will raise stakeholder value, balance sheet, a $200mn vendor note, a $150mn
benefiting customers, employees, shareholders, term loan and a $700mn acquisition financing
business partners and the societies in which we from Nordea, DNB, BNP Paribas and Swedbank.
operate,” said Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec The acquisition finance is available until
Solar. 12 months after the transaction closes and is
Scatec Solar said that the transaction included expected to be refinanced through debt and
SN Power’s portfolio of hydro assets in the Philip- equity.
pines, Laos and Uganda with a total gross capac- The deal still needs to be approved by the
ity of 1.4 GW (net 0.5 GW) and gross median Norwegian authorities and is likely to be com-
production of 6.1 TWh (net 1.8 TWh). pleted in the first half of 2021. Until then, the two
SN Power has a project pipeline total- companies will continue to operate as separate
ling gross 2.5 GW, mainly across Asia and entities.™

Azelio, JET ENERGY to roll out

solar storage tech in Africa

AFRICA SWEDEN’S Azelio has signed a memorandum After co-operating for the installation of
of understanding (MoU) with Morocco-based Azelio’s verification project in Morocco, JET
JET ENERGY to explore energy storage projects ENERGY and Azelio are teaming up with the
with Azelio’s TES.POD technology in Franco- signing of a MoU to develop renewable energy
phone Africa. projects in Morocco in particular, and in Fran-
The collaboration aims to build out 45-MW cophone Africa in general.
capacity of the TES.POD by 2025, with JET The collaboration seeks to assess projects uti-
ENERGY as project developer. lising Azelio’s TES.POD storage design together
In addition to this MoU, the two companies with existing and new solar PV installations, in
anticipate an extended project pipeline once the order to provide round-the-clock power on an
first projects are initiated. efficient and affordable basis.

P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 42 22•October•2020