Camco teams up with EPP to support renewable energy development in vulnerable African states
Dar es Salaam, 18 May 2022: Climate and impact fund manager Camco Clean Energy has partnered with Energy Peace Partners (EPP) to manage the Peace Renewable Energy Credit (P-REC) Aggregation Fund to expand renewable energy investment in fragile states in Sub-Saharan Africa.
P-RECs are international renewable energy certificates (I-RECs) with a supplementary label from Energy Peace Partners as the issuer certifying the co-benefits associated with the new renewable energy generation in countries that are fragile, climate vulnerable and energy poor. Since 2020, P-REC transactions have unlocked a new stream of private sector capital to support emerging renewable energy projects in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and South Sudan.
Trading in P-RECs, the Fund is designed to unlock up front funding for high impact renewable energy projects in countries where political and economic uncertainty is constraining investment and deployment of renewable energy infrastructure, and where lack of access to electricity is hindering sustainable development.
With each credit representing one megawatt hour of renewable energy, the P-RECs monetise the environmental and social attributes of renewable energy generated in fragile, energy-poor countries. The Fund offers renewable energy developers in fragile states – where access to affordable finance remains a key challenge – a portion of construction capital upfront, helping new projects come online by de-risking them and catalysing financing from other sources.
Today’s announcement coincides with this week’s Sustainable Energy for All Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, which aims to accelerate progress towards the delivery of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) to end energy poverty and advance a just energy transition in every corner of the world.
The Fund is designed to directly support SDG-7, as well as SDG-13 (climate action) and SDG-16 (peace, justice and strong institutions); its USD 10.25m pilot phase – being raised as a mix of first-loss grants and concessional capital – is projected to unlock USD 90m in additional financing and support the deployment of 57 MW of new renewable energy capacity, providing energy access to 325,000 households as well as creating 10,000 jobs and avoiding 650,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
The Fund is initially targeting countries with high impact potential including DRC, South Sudan, Chad, Somalia and Uganda. In the future, as the P-REC market matures, the Fund will be expanded to include commercial capital and draw in other financing facilities, providing even more financial support to developers and expanding energy access in the regions where it is needed most.
Geoff Sinclair, Managing Director, Camco Clean Energy, said: “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Energy Peace Partners as the manager of the P-REC Aggregation Fund. This has real potential to help raise standards of living in conflict-affected states, building a brighter future, today.
“EPP’s domain expertise combines well with Camco’s proven track record in trading environmental instruments and renewable energy finance in emerging markets, and I look forward to achieving real impact on this fund while building the market for Peace RECs.”
Sherwin Das, Managing Director, Energy Peace Partners, said: “The P-REC Aggregation Fund leverages an innovative financing instrument to increase the flow of finance for a growing portfolio of high impact renewable energy projects in fragile states in Sub-Saharan Africa. It will send vital market signals to crowd-in other funders and resources, providing peace positive investment that contributes to achieving global goals to mitigate climate change and end energy poverty.
“We are excited to be partnering with Camco as we operationalise the P-REC Aggregation Fund. Camco’s deep expertise in environmental markets and renewable energy finance in Africa’s emerging economies, along with its focus on transformational impact, aligns perfectly with EPP’s goals to extend the renewable energy revolution to some of the hardest-to-reach communities.”