- CrossBoundary Energy has completed a US$40 million equity investment from Norfund and KLP
- The deal will allow CrossBoundary Energy to further scale its investments in renewable energy solutions for commercial and industrial businesses across Africa
- The $40M commitment is a continuation of Norfund’s and KLP’s earlier investments in the C&I sector and endorses the scale and maturity of the distributed generation sector in Africa
Renewable energy systems developer CrossBoundary Energy has completed a US$40 million equity investment from Norfund and KLP.
Norfund is the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries, while KLP is Norway’s largest pension company.
According to the partners, the commitment will allow CrossBoundary Energy to further scale its investments in renewable energy solutions for commercial and industrial businesses across Africa.
The $40M commitment is a continuation of Norfund and KLP’s earlier investments in the C&I sector and endorses the scale and maturity of the distributed generation sector in Africa. The secured funding is in addition to $40M in equity invested in CrossBoundary Energy by ARCH Emerging Markets’ Africa Renewable Power Fund in 2020.
CrossBoundary Energy provides tailored, fully financed renewable energy solutions to its corporate customers allowing them to avoid upfront capital expenditure and technical risks, whilst still benefitting from cheaper, cleaner, and more reliable power.
The energy company is currently delivering a portfolio of $188M in projects for 30 corporate customers across 14 countries in Africa, comprising 150 MWp of solar PV assets, 50 MWh of battery energy storage assets, and 12 MW of wind assets.
CrossBoundary Energy is the renewable energy provider of choice for a number of market-leading companies present in Africa, including Unilever, Diageo, Rio Tinto, Heineken, and AB InBev.
Pieter Joubert, President and Chief Investment Officer at CrossBoundary Energy, said Norfund and KLP’s commitment is aligned with their belief that the business sector across Africa should be able to benefit from cheaper, cleaner and more reliable power.
“This investment validates CrossBoundary Energy’s position as a trusted provider of customer-centric renewable energy solutions to the African business community. We look forward to drawing on Norfund’s significant experience as we seek to deliver an operational portfolio of over $300M in assets within the next five years.”
CrossBoundary Energy signs partner to advance solar power production in Senegal
At the same time, Kristoffer Valvik, Investment Manager at Norfund, said that distributed renewables are playing a critical role in driving toward the clean and sustainable growth of the commercial and industrial sectors across Africa.
“The cost savings offered by renewable energy, coupled with the reliability of battery energy storage systems, allows companies like CrossBoundary Energy to provide the business sector with immediate cost savings whilst significantly reducing their emissions, and creating employment in the renewable energy sector,” Valvik said.
The manager added that CrossBoundary Energy has secured a leading portfolio of high-quality assets and we are excited to support them as they continue to scale.
Also commenting on the investment, Aage Schaanning, Group Chief Financial Officer at KLP, would support the further development of CrossBoundary Energy’s portfolio of distributed renewable energy systems.
“We are confident that its strong business practices will boost sustainable economic development on the African continent and deliver stable and predictable returns for KLPs owners.”
In a separate story, Eramet Group’s subsidiary Grande Côte Opérations (GCO) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with CrossBoundary Energy for the construction of a 13 MW hybrid solar power station with 8 MW battery storage in Senegal.
The deal came when Senegal has been emphasizing the role renewable will play in the country and has set up ambitious targets to reach universal access to electricity by 2025, achieve 200GWh of hydropower production, and have renewable make up 30 per cent of the power mix by 2025.
CrossBoundary said the solar power station is dedicated to the Diogo industrial site (north-western Senegal) for the production of mineral sands and is scheduled to be commissioned in early 2023.
“This is a first that reinforces the company’s commitment to the climate, in line with that of the Eramet Group, which has set itself the objective (Science Based Targets – SBT) of reducing the CO2 emissions (scope 1 and 2) of its activities by 40 per cent by 2035 (based on 2019),” the company said in the statement.
CrossBoundary Energy will design, build and operate the plant, which will generate all the renewable energy for GCO through a 15-year distribution contract.
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