Berkeley Energy has announced the raising of €130 million in the first close of the Africa Renewable Energy Fund II (AREF II).
The fund was raised following a joint investment of €17.5 million from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA) and the Climate Technology Fund (CTF) through the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Managed by Berkeley Energy, AREF II is a ten-year closed-ended renewable energy Private Equity Fund with a $300 million target capitalisation.
It invests in early-stage renewable energy projects, promoting increased green baseload in Africa’s generation mix.
According to a statement from the AfDB, SEFA and CTF will each contribute roughly €8.7 million to mobilise private-sector investment into Africa’s renewable energy sector.
SEFA, it added, will also contribute financing to the AREF II project support facility that funds technical assistance and early-stage project support to improve bankability.
Other investors include the U.K’s CDC Group, Italy’s CDP, the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO) and SwedFund.
‘We are proud to be associated with Berkeley Energy and other like-minded investors, and look forward to AREF’s continued success and leadership in promoting sustainable power development on the continent’, AfDB’s Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth, Dr Kevin Kariuki, said in a statement.
In 2012, the AfDB selected Berkeley Energy, a seasoned fund manager of clean energy projects in global emerging markets, to set up AREF.
AREF II’s focus is to deliver firm and dispatchable power to African power systems through hydro, solar, wind and battery storage technologies.
‘We are very excited to have reached this milestone with strong support from our backers’, Berkeley Energy’s Managing Director, Luka Buljan, said.
‘The catalytic tranche from the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa and the Climate Technology Fund will assist in mobilising private institutional investors up to full fund size of €300 million.
‘We now look forward to concluding the fundraising and delivering projects that will provide clean, reliable and affordable energy across African markets’.
The overarching goal of SEFA, which was established in 2011, is to contribute to universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy services for all in Africa in line with AfDB’s new deal on energy for Africa and Sustainable Development Goal Seven.
Source: AfDB
Photo source: Asian Development Bank
