The Netherlands
Climate Fund Managers (CFM), the manager of Climate Investor One (CI1), is pleased to announce a partnership with Berkeley Energy on the first African investment to be made by the CI1 Construction Equity Fund. Together CI1 and Berkeley Energy, an emerging markets clean energy developer and fund manager, will build out and operationalise a 112 MW run-of-river hydropower platform located in Uganda.
CI1 has invested USD 70 million to construct the 42 MW Achwa 1 Hydropower Project, which forms part of a four project portfolio.
The combination of Berkeley Energy and CI1 blends, on the one hand, the experience and expertise of developing, constructing and operating renewable energy projects across Africa and Asia with the innovative end-to-end financing solution of CI1.
TC Kundi, Berkeley Energy Founder and Managing Partner said: “We are pleased to be concluding this transaction with CI1, which will provide the funding necessary for the construction of Achwa 1 in Northern Uganda. The Project will add a further 42MW to Berkeley Energy’s expanding hydropower business in Uganda and the region. CI1’s flexible approach has enabled the rapid conclusion of a financing for a construction asset, avoiding some of the restrictions that typically come with traditional senior debt project financings.”
Andrew Johnstone, Climate Fund Managers CEO stated: “We are proud to be a partner with Berkeley Energy in accelerating the deployment of renewable energy in Africa, especially in underserved and least developed regions. CI1 was specifically created to close the power and infrastructure asset gap by simplifying the route to construction, operations and generation. The Achwa 1 project is a good demonstration of CI1 at work. We look forward to expanding both the momentum and the relationship.”
The Achwa 1 Hydropower Project will deliver an estimated 190 GWh of clean energy annually and avoid approximately 100,000 tonnes of GHG emissions per year, thus making a contribution to the renewable power expansion and GHG emissions reduction goals of Uganda as expressed in the country’s UNFCCC Nationally Determined Contribution.
About Berkeley Energy (berkeley-energy.com)
Berkeley Energy, founded in 2007, has deep renewable energy and power engineering, construction and investment experience in developing markets, where it is a focused investor, developer and deliverer of renewable power assets.
Berkeley Energy works with its partner companies to provide engineering, management and financial support, whilst offering the ability to act as a bankable sponsor for renewable power projects.
Berkeley Energy currently has three funds under management, two in relation to Asia: the Renewable Energy Asia Fund (REAF), which is fully deployed, and the Renewable Energy Asia Fund II (REAFII) and the other in relation to Sub-Saharan Africa: the Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF).
About Climate Fund Managers (climatefundmanagers.com)
Climate Fund Managers (CFM) is a new generation fund manager dedicated to securing a sustainable future through investing to create positive climate outcomes across global emerging markets. CFM is a cooperative incorporated under the laws of The Netherlands, established as a joint venture between FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank, and Sanlam Infra Works – part of the Sanlam Group, of South Africa.
CFM has a purpose and the expertise to structure and implement innovative and effective financing facilities around the core areas of climate change mitigation and adaptation, including energy, water, sustainable land use, oceans and sustainable cities. CFM’s debut initiative, Climate Investor One, is recognised as one of the leading large scale blended finance facilities.
Climate Investor One, with USD 555 million of committed capital, has a mandate to finance renewable energy infrastructure projects and is acclaimed for its innovative way of de-risking and mobilising commercial private sector capital at scale by tactically structuring public sector capital in a blending architecture.
CI1 represents cross sector interests in climate investing, which include amongst others: the European Commission, the Directorate-General for International Cooperation (DGIS) – Ministry of Foreign Affairs of The Netherlands, pension funds from the United Kingdom, Norway and South Africa, and DFls from Scandinavia and the European Union.
Climate Investor One targets investments across Africa, Asia & Latin America – with a technological focus on solar, wind and run-of-river hydro.
