JOHANNESBURG - The African Development Bank's Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa has approved a $760,000 grant to fund manager Empower New Energy (EmNEW) towards developing at least eight small renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan Africa, each with a capacity of up to 10 megawatts.
In a statement, the AfDB said the grant would support a broad range of project preparation and development activities, including technical feasibility studies, legal due diligence, environmental and social impact assessment, quality assurance and risk management.
EmNEW invests in small and medium-scale renewable energy projects in Africa, with a focus on solar power, hybrid and hydro technologies.
"There is a large number of strong small or medium scale projects across Africa that remain unrealised because they can’t access competitive financing," EmNEW chief executive officer Terje Osmundsen said.
"Together, we can bring impactful investment to Africa, while helping the continent to meet its electrification, carbon-reduction, and sustainable development targets.”
Drawing on local partnerships in Africa, EmNEW invests in renewable energy projects through competitive equity to small and medium scale projects, helping reduce the time and resources required to finance projects while delivering environmental and social impact.
“Accelerated deployment of distributed solar power and small hydropower is one of the fastest and most cost-efficient ways to bridge the energy access gap, fight climate change and promote sustainable development in Sub-Saharan Africa,” AfDB acting vice president for power, energy, climate and green growth Wale Shonibare said.
EmNEW has regional offices in Kenya and Ghana, with projects expected to unlock up to $500 million in renewable energy investment, reduce carbon emissions by 320,000 tons, create 20,000 new jobs and eventually produce 585 gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean electricity.