- Empower New Energy is raising $74 million to finance the solarisation of African businesses.
- The funds have been raised from several impact investors.
Empower New Energy secures funds to expand its activities in Africa with $74 million raised from a consortium of impact investors. This was part of a funding round led by Climate Fund Managers (CFM), the manager of Climate Investor One (CIO). The Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries (NORFUND) and the investment company Janeiro Energy AS also support the initiative.
The Empower investment platform was developed in collaboration with NORAD, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), a financial tool run by the African Development Bank, is no different (AfDB). Empower plans to use this funding to supply more than 50 African businesses with solar energy. The business will also use the infrastructure created by CFM, NORFUND, NORAD, and SEFA during the following three years to invest an additional $100 million through loans.
In addition to battery storage devices, the company aspires to develop, construct, own, and operate more than 150 MW solar installations. According to Empower, its investments will produce 249 GWh of clean electricity annually while preventing 200,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions over the same time. According to Terje Osmundsen, founder and CEO of Empower New Energy. “In much of Africa, businesses tend to pay 25-50% more for electricity than elsewhere in the world.”