Page 8 - AfrElec Week 08

AfrElec RENEWABLES AfrElec
CrossBoundary Energy finalises $16.5mn injection of equity capital
AFRICA
UK-BASED investment fund ARCH Emerging Markets Partners has invested $16.5mn of equity capital in CrossBoundary Energy (CBE), an off- grid solar developer in Africa.
The cash will come from ARCH’s Africa Renewable Power Fund (ARCH ARPF) and will enable CBE to expand its distributed solar ser- vices in Africa, where it specialised in supplying solar energy to commercial and industrial busi- nesses that face unreliable grid supplies.
It currently manages a portfolio of 26 MWp of rooftop solar projects for over 20 customers across seven countries in Africa.
CBE aims to expand beyond its current oper- ations in Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana and Nigeria. Major clients include the Jabi Lake Mall in Abuja, Nigeria, owned by UK investment fund Actis, as well as Unilever, Diageo and Heineken.
CBE installs solar photovoltaic (PV) panels at commercial and industrial premises to guaran- tee supplies and avoid power cuts. It uses a “solar- as-a-service” business model, where the panels are paid for as a monthly bill over a set period. There is no up-front investment by the client.
Distributed solar is set to expand by 250% by 2024, according to the International Energy Agency’s Renewables 2019 report. Distributed solar PV will account for almost half of the near- term growth in the overall solar PV market, the report added.
“This commitment of the Arch fund for renewable energy represents the first phase of a larger transaction that will allow us to expand in the commercial and industrial sector throughout Africa. This scaling up will also reduce electricity
costs for our customers, create additional jobs in the solar sector and significantly reduce carbon emissions,” explains Pieter Joubert, CBE’s invest- ment director.
CrossBoundary also wants to diversify by installing off-grids in rural areas in Africa by using blended finance, which includes soft loans from development finance institutes (DFIs).
As part of this strategy, its investment fund CrossBoundary Energy Access (CBEA) has signed a partnership with PowerGen Renewable Energy, a supplier of off-grid technology.
The two partners will work together to build 60 off-grid solar PV systems in rural areas.
ARCH ARPF is a dedicated African renew- able energy fund that aims to address the Afri- can market’s growing demand for bankable, de-risked electricity generation.
“Now that companies recognise the attrac- tive project economics of distributed solar PV, we are confident that CBE’s pipeline of projects will accelerate,” said William Barry, managing director of ARCH ARPF.™
Scatec Solar opens 86MW at SA’s Dyason’s Klip 1 solar complex
SOUTH AFRICA
NORWEGIAN solar IPP Scatec Solar has con- nected a second 86MW tranche of capacity at its Dyason’s Klip 1 solar complex at Upington in South Africa.
The company said that the 86-MW facility, which is part of a wider 258-MW development when fully online, is expected to produce 217 GWh per year.
Dyason’s Klip 1 is anticipated to begin com- mercial operations in mid-March. Until then, the plant will be earning 60% of its tariff.
The three 86-MW projects at Upington were awarded to Scatec Solar in April 2015 as part of the fourth bidding round of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Pro- ducer Programme (REIPPP).
Scatec Solar owns a 42% share in the devel- opment, while Norwegian development finance institute (DFI) Norfund holds 18%. Local share- holders include H1 Holdings, a South African black-owned investor, with 35%, and the local Community of Upington with 5%.
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w w w. N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 08 27•February•2020