Powering rural Benin: CEI Africa & Energise Africa finance nine solar mini-grids serving 4,700 customers
ARE Member Stichting Clean Energy and Energy Inclusion for Africa (CEI Africa), through its Crowdlending Window, has signed a USD 1.5 million junior secured loan agreement with Mionwa Generation SA (OnePower’s special purpose vehicle in Benin) alongside fellow ARE Member and crowdfunding platform Energise Africa. Energise Africa has raised an additional USD 970,000 in a senior secured loan for the project and expects to mobilize a further USD 420,000. The combined financing package of USD 2.9 million will support the construction of nine solar mini-grid projects across rural communities in Benin. With this financing, Mionwa will construct nine solar power plants with a combined installed capacity of 595 kW and 1.7 MWh of battery storage. Once operational, the solar mini-grids will deliver clean and reliable electricity to approximately 4,700 households and local enterprises. These projects offer a cleaner and more reliable alternative to existing energy sources, improving air quality and lowering carbon emissions while offering 24/7 reliable electricity to the communities.
In addition, CEI Africa has awarded up to USD 972,000 in results-based financing (RBF) grant funding, while the Universal Energy Facility (UEF), a multi-donor results-based financing facility managed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), has awarded a total results-based financing envelope of USD 1.66 million across five sites.
“This financing marks a major milestone for the OnePower Mionwa portfolio in Benin. By combining CEI Africa’s and UEF’s RBF’s with debt from CEI Africa and Energise Africa, we are able to bring commercially viable, sustainable, utility-grade solar mini-grids to communities that have historically been left behind by the central grid” said Matthew Orosz, CEO of One Power Group.