Access to affordable and reliable electricity remains a big challenge in Africa. Especially in the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, where 570 million people currently live without connection to power. This challenge is also addressed in the Danish government’s recent Strategy for Africa pushing for more Danish climate investments on the African continent.
Aligned with that, IFU is investing USD 15 million in PowerGen Renewable Energy as part of a joint investment with the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the EU-funded EDFI Management Company (ElectriFi), and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
PowerGen is a leading distributed renewable energy (DRE) company striving to provide clean, reliable and affordable power across Africa. The joint investment will support PowerGen to scale their business, targeting deployment of up to 120MW portfolio of renewable mini-/metro-grids and commercial and industrial (C&I) power solutions, inclusive of battery energy storage.
“We are thrilled to announce this transformational next chapter to drive our vision of providing clean, reliable, and affordable energy across Africa. We are grateful to our terrific partners for their collaboration, and together, we look forward to contributing at scale to the energy transition and socio-economic growth across the continent.”
Aaron Cheng, CEO of PowerGen,
The deployment is expected to increase access for more than 68,000 households and reduce the cost of power for 7,000 businesses, with an initial focus on Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Sierra Leone.
“There is a tremendous need for enabling access to clean energy that can assist underserved households and businesses in Africa to become more resilient to climate change and to provide them with opportunities for better living conditions without further increasing greenhouse gas emissions. This joint investment addresses this issue by enabling PowerGen to develop sustainable off-grid power solutions in sub-Saharan Africa. This aligns with our increased focus on supporting Africa’s transition to be more climate resilient,” said Henrik Henriksen, Investment Director in IFU
Besides supporting Africa’s green transition, the increased access to reliable and affordable electricity is also expected to enhance business productivity, create indirect jobs, drive sustainable economic growth and improve livelihood in rural Africa.