CrossBoundary Energy (CBE), a developer and operator of commercial and industrial renewable energy systems has announced the completion of a $40 million equity investment to further scale its investments in renewable energy solutions for commercial and industrial businesses across Nigeria and other African countries.
According to CrossBoundary, the $40 million equity investment was secured from Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries, and KLP, Norway’s largest pension company, through their joint company KLP Norfund Investments AS.
It is a continuation of Norfund and KLP’s earlier investments in the C&I sector and endorses the scale and maturity of the distributed generation sector in Africa.
“This investment validates CrossBoundary Energy’s position as a trusted provider of customer-centric renewable energy solutions to the African business community. We look forward to drawing on Norfund’s significant experience as we seek to deliver an operational portfolio of over $300M in assets within the next 5 years,” Pieter Joubert, President and Chief Investment Officer, CrossBoundary Energy said.
Kristoffer Valvik, Investment Manager, Norfund believes distributed renewables are playing a critical role in driving toward the clean and sustainable growth of the commercial and industrial sector across Africa.
“The cost savings offered by renewable energy, coupled with the reliability of battery energy storage systems, allows companies like CrossBoundary Energy to provide the business sector with immediate cost savings whilst significantly reducing their emissions, and creating employment in the renewable energy sector,” Valvik said.
CrossBoundary Energy is currently delivering a portfolio of $188M in projects for 30 corporate customers across 14 countries in Africa, comprising 150 MWp of solar PV assets, 50 MWh of battery energy storage assets, and 12 MW of wind assets.
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“We are pleased to support the further development of CrossBoundary Energy’s portfolio of distributed renewable energy systems and are confident that its strong business practices will boost sustainable economic development on the African continent and deliver stable and predictable returns for KLPs owners,” Aage Schaanning, Group Chief Financial Officer, KLP, said.
CrossBoundary Energy is the renewable energy provider of choice for a number of market-leading companies present in Africa, including Unilever, Diageo, Rio Tinto, Heineken, and AB InBev.
“We are extremely pleased with the progress made by CrossBoundary Energy following our investment in 2020, with their portfolio growing ten-fold over the last two years. CrossBoundary Energy has established itself as a pioneer and clear market leader in the commercial and industrial renewable energy sector across Africa, and we look forward to supporting the next phase of growth enabled by Norfund and KLP’s investment,” William Barry, Managing Director, ARCH ARPF concluded.
