Access Power, a developer, owner and operator of renewable power projects in emerging markets, announced the winners of the 2016 US$7 million Access Co-Development Facility (ACF), a financial support mechanism for renewable energy projects in Africa.
Three projects from Nigeria, Madagascar, and Sierra Leone, were selected from almost 100 entries to win a share of US$7million prize. The prize also includes a package of technical support designed to bring their renewable energy projects to life.
The winners are AGES PLC (25MW solar project in Sierra Leone), Mentach Energy (50 MW wind project in Nigeria), and Stucky Ltd (25MW Hydro & Solar project in Madagascar). Collectively, the projects will deliver 100 megawatts of electricity to 340,000 homes.
Winners were selected based on commercial, technical and environmental merits, as well as the local regulatory environment, and capability of the project team.
Reda El Chaar, executive chairman of Access Power said, “There is still a massive, urgent need for electrification in Africa and we firmly believe that renewable energy will be a significant part of the solution. This year’s ACF competition introduced us to almost 100 projects, demonstrating the scale of entrepreneurialism and ambition across the African continent to meet the electrification challenge.”
ACF 2016 saw unprecedented participation with a 75% increase in applications from the inaugural ACF 2015. Submissions came from 25 different African countries, a 40% annual uplift in the number of countries involved, with 95% of the projects submitted came from Sub-Saharan Africa, a key growth area for Access Power.
Rajani Baburajan
editor@greentechlead.com