Norfund, the Norwegian government's investment fund for developing countries, and the UK’s development finance agency CDC Group will invest ZAR 600 million ($38.9 million/€34.7 million) in a South African renewable energy developer with a pipeline of more than 2.4 gigawatts.
Announced on Friday, Norfund will invest ZAR 360 million through a new climate investment fund, and the CDC will invest ZAR 240 million in renewable energy investment and development platform H1 Capital. They want to help improve South Africa's access to clean and affordable energy.
The new capital will enable H1 capital to finance its pipeline of wind and solar projects. Once fully installed, these power plants will generate around 6,400 GWh of electricity per year.
Nick O'Donohoe, CDC Group CEO, said: "This investment marks another critical step in delivering on our commitment to spend more on clean infrastructure and support A just transition in markets such as South Africa.”
South Africa aims to deploy 20 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation capacity over the next 10 years to reduce power shortages and decarbonize its generators. Currently, about 86% of the country's electricity comes from thermal energy.
(10 South African rand = $0.648/€0.578)