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AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec
AfDB to support EmNEW’s investment in African renewables
AFRICA
THE African Development Bank (AfDB)-man- aged Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) has approved a $760,000 grant to Norwe- gian investment fund Empower New Energy (EmNEW), to develop at least eight small renew- able energy projects with capacities ranging from 1-10MW.
The grant will support a broad range of prepa- ration and development activities that will guide projects towards bankability and construction.
These include technical feasibility studies, legal due diligence, environmental and social impact assessments, quality assurance and risk management.
EmNEW’s Empower Invest Fund invests in small and medium-scale renewable energy projects in Africa, with a focus on solar power, hybrid and hydro technologies.
“There is a large number of strong small or medium-scale projects across Africa that remain unrealised because they can’t access competitive financing,” EmNEW CEO Terje Osmundsen said.
“We can bring impactful investment to Africa, while helping the continent to meet its electrification, carbon-reduction and sustainable development targets,” he added.
The grant is fully aligned with SEFA’s strategy to tackle challenges faced by smaller renewable energy projects in many African countries in accessing financing to cover their initial devel- opment costs, noted the AfDB’s Acting Director for Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency, Dan- iel Schroth.
Drawing on high-quality local partnerships in Africa, EmNEW invests in renewable energy projects through competitive equity to small and medium-scale projects, which helps to reduce the resources required to finance projects while delivering environmental and social impact.
“Accelerated deployment of distributed solar power and small hydropower is one of the fast- est and most cost-efficient ways to bridge the energy access gap, fight climate change and pro- mote sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Wale Shonibare, the Bank’s Acting Vice-President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth.
EmNEW has regional offices in Kenya and Ghana, with projects expected to unlock up to $500mn in renewable energy investment, reduce CO2 emissions by 320,000 tonnes, create 20,000 new jobs, and eventually generate 585GWh of clean electricity.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 15 16•April•2020
