Africa Renewable Energy Fund

Equity : October 2014

AREF is an equity fund dedicated to renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

Amount

€ 8,896,000.00

Type of investment

Equity

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Private sector consolidation/innovation
Access to basic services & goods
Fight against climate change and preservation of natural resources

Beneficiary locations

Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia

Investment field

Investment Companies & Funds

Activity

Infrastructure fund

Organisation

Africa Renewable Energy Fund

Website

https://www.berkeley-energy.com/africa-renewable-energy-fund/

The Africa Renewable Energy Fund (AREF) is an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB) with an important contribution of the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).

AREF invests into small hydro, wind, geothermal, solar, and biomass projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. The fund will essentially acquire controlling equity stakes in the projects so that the fund manager is able to determine the strategy of the companies.

Development impacts

Local economic growth
Access to long-term financing for infrastructure
Private sector consolidation/innovation
The renewable energy market in Africa has a lack of developers’ capacity. The fund will help develop the market participants’ knowledge and experience.
Access to basic services & goods
Africa suffers from severe energy shortages. The fund's investments will increase capacity.
Fight against climate change and preservation of natural resources
Cleaner energy for SSA: Based on the fund model assumptions, these projects would allow for a yearly reduction of CO2 emissions of 200,000 tons a year compared to brown energy alternatives.

Made possible through this investment

Thanks to the direct funding from BIO, the following second-line investments have been made possible.

Achwa1

Uganda

Achwa 1 is a 42MW run-of-the-river hydropower project located in Northern Uganda, in the districts of Pader, Gulu, and Kitgum, along the Achwa River. The project is under construction and is expected to be completed in Q1 2021.

Achwa2

Uganda

Achwa 2 is a 41MW run-of-the-river hydropower project located in Northern Uganda, in the districts of Pader, Gulu, and Kitgum, along the Achwa River. The project became operational after achieving deemed commercial operations in October 2019.

APSD

Ghana

Africa Plantation for Sustainable Development (APSD) is a 60MW biomass project located near the Atebubu town, Brong Ahafo Province in Central Ghana.

Azimuth

Ghana

Azimuth develops, constructs and operates 100kW to 2.5MW solar installations with power sold to commercial and industrial customers in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Bugoye

Uganda

Bugoye is a 13MW run-of-the-river hydroelectric power plant located in Bugoye sub-county, Kasese district, which is at the foot of the Rwenzori Mountains in Western Uganda. The project is operational with an annual average generation of 78GWh.

Chipapaso

Zambia

Chipapaso is a 9.9MW run of river hydro project located on the Munensi River, a tributary of the Munyamadzi River in Mpika District in Muchinga Province in Zambia. The project is under development and expected to be submitted under the GET FIT programme.

Corbetti

Ethiopia

Corbetti is a 150MW geothermal project located in the Corbetti Caldera, approximately 250km south-west of Addis Ababa in between the towns of Shashamene and Hawassa in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Corbetti signed an amended PPA and Implementation Agreement with the state-owned power utility EEP in March 2020 and drilling of the first exploration wells will commence following the PPA Effective Date.

Dibombe

Cameroon

Dibombe is a run of river project with a proposed installed capacity of 62.6MW and located along the Dibombe River in the Littoral region in the Francophone part of Cameroon. The project is under development with the feasibility study concluded and under validation by the Ministry of Water and Energy (MINEE).

Kikagati

Tanzania, Uganda

Kikagati is a 16MW run-of-river hydropower project located along the Kagera River in South-Western Uganda on the Tanzania-Uganda border. The project is under construction and estimated for completion in Q1 2021. This project is the result of ground-breaking co-operation between the Tanzanian and Ugandan government with power being provided to both countries.

Mahitsy

Madagascar

Mahitsy is a 28MW run-of-river hydropower project located on the Ikopa River, 35km north-west of the capital, Antananarivo. The project is under construction with targeted completion in Q1 2021 and is estimated to have an annual generation output of 124GWh.

Sahanivotry

Madagascar

Sahanivotry is a 16.5MW run-of-river hydropower project located on the Ampamehana River, 30km south of the third largest town, Antsirabe, in central Madagascar. The project has been operational since achieving COD in October 2008 and has an annual average output of 75GWh.

Vuka

The Vuka hydro projects are located along the Cuango River in the province of Lunda Norte in Angola. Three sites have been initially identified and are under development. The project sites are estimated to possess a potential capacity in excess of 200MW.