Norwegian company raises $74m for solar projects in Nigeria, others

By Innocent Obasi

Empower New Energy, a Norwegian solar development and investment business, and a consortium managed by Climate Fund Managers have reached an agreement that would speed up the raising of roughly $74 million from the consortium to construct solar projects in the Africa commercial and industrial (C&I) sector.

Over the next three years, the partnership will construct, finance, own, and operate an initial 150MW of solar plants.

Norfund is investing $12.5 million to this capital raise, and the investor consortium is joined by Janeiro Energy AS, an investment firm that is partly owned by prominent Norwegian businessman and economist Svein Harald ygard.

Climate Fund Managers manages Climate Investor One, a hybrid finance facility.

The consortium aims to raise debt in addition to equity capital, which will allow Empower to invest at least $100 million over the next three years. In addition to avoiding 200,000 tons of CO2 and generating more than 240 GWh of solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity annually, this will allow the company to develop, build, own, and operate more than 150 MW of solar projects (including batteries) for commercial and industrial users in Africa, protecting or creating about 15,000 jobs.

In 2019, Empower New Energy raised its first $7.9 million, and currently, it has completed eight solar investments for industrial and agricultural off-takers in Ghana, Egypt, and Nigeria.