- PowerGen Renewable Energy (PowerGen) has partnered with leading international investors to establish a scalable, distributed renewable energy platform targeting the deployment of 120 MW of renewable power, including battery energy storage solutions across Africa.
- The platform is a collaboration between PowerGen and the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), EDFI Management Company, through its EU-funded Electrification Financing Initiative (ElectriFi), and the African Development Bank’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA).
- The anchor commitment from PIDG was made through InfraCo, its investment arm, with concessional capital provided by PIDG Technical Assistance.
SEFA is a multi-donor special fund managed by the African Development Bank that provides catalytic finance to unlock private sector investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Building on PowerGen’s thirteen-plus years of experience developing, implementing, and operating projects across Africa, the funds will support the deployment of a 120MW portfolio of renewable mini-/metro-grids and commercial and industrial (C&I) power solutions, inclusive of battery energy storage.
Initially focused on Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the platform will be expanded within the wider region, leveraging PowerGen’s deep pipeline in combination with local developer and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partnerships. Adopting a platform approach has the potential to accelerate efforts to connect the 570 million people across sub-Saharan Africa who currently lack access to electricity, according to data from IRENA.
The first closing of the transaction was reached in January 2025 and will catalyse additional equity and debt finance later this year. PowerGen is a private sector partner of Power Africa, a U.S. government-led partnership that provided technical assistance to PowerGen and previous funding to ElectriFi and SEFA.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
