With a joint investment of €17.5 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund, the Africa Renewable Energy Fund II has reached its first close at €130 million.
KAMPALA | LIFESTYLE UGANDA — Using funds from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund through the African Development Bank, the Africa Renewable Energy Fund II has closed at €130 million, following a joint investment of €17.5 million.
- AREF II follows the original Fund’s 10-year structure and targets a $300m target capitalization.
- Some of the other investors include the CDC Group, the Italian CDP, and the SwedFund.
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ARF II is a 10-year closed-ended renewable energy private equity fund with a target capitalization of $300 million.
Through its Africa Renewable Energy Fund II, Berkeley Energy invests in early-stage renewable energy projects, de-risking the most uncertain part of power projects, while promoting the inclusion of green generation in Africa’s generation mix.
Both the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund are contributing about €8.7 million to the African renewable energy sector.
Additionally, the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa will contribute funding to the AREF II Project Support Facility that supports technical assistance and early-stage project development to improve bankability.
Other investors include Sweden’s SwedFund, UK’s CDC Group, Italy’s CDP, and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).
”AREF is pleased to be associated with Berkeley Energy and other like-minded investors and anticipates continuing successful and leadership efforts to promote sustainable power development on the continent,” said Kevin Kariuki, Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.
AREF’s continued success and leadership in promoting sustainable power development on the continent are of great importance to us,” said Kevin Kariuki, Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth at the African Development Bank.
Berkeley Energy, an experienced fund manager of clean energy projects in emerging markets, was selected by the African Development Bank (https://www.afdb.org/en) to set up AREF in 2012.
As with its predecessor, Africa Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II) focuses on “green baseload” projects like hydro, solar, wind and battery storage to deliver firm and dispatchable power to African power networks.
Berkeley Energy Managing Director, Luka Buljan, commented:
“We are delighted to have reached this milestone with strong support from our backers, and the major tranches from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund should help us mobilize private institutional investors to fund the full fund size of €300 million.”
”Our team at Berkeley Energy is very pleased to have reached this landmark with the support of our backers, and the catalytic tranche from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund will assist in securing private institutional investors for the full €300 million funds.”
African Development Bank’s Coordinator of Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa Joao Duarte Cunha said:
“AREF’s history and success is intertwined with that of the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa, and we have worked together over the last decade to set precedents in difficult markets and challenging technologies, and we look forward to continued collaboration.”
”ARF has a deep connection to the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa’s history and success, and we have collaborated closely in creating precedents on challenging markets and technologies, and we look forward to accelerating the energy transition in Africa together.”
