Innova Capital Partners and Fondo de Capital Privado de Emprendimiento e Innovación (FCP) have teamed up to make an investment into ERCO Energía, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) firm specialised in photovoltaic projects in Colombia.
The joint investment will provide capitalisation for the construction of ERCO solar projects in the region.
Colombia has exceptional non-conventional energy resource potential like solar, wind and biomass. Solar is among Colombia’s most abundant resources given its proximity to the equatorial zone, yet solar wide spread solar installation in the commercial and industrial sector is still in its infancy stage.
Solar EPC firms such as ERCO are set to capitalise on the Law 1715, which was officially enacted in 2016 to establish the legal framework and instruments to actively promote and integrate other non-hydro renewables (NCRE) into the national energy system. Law 1715 outlines the incentives that make non-hydro renewables economically feasible.
“We have built our platform by finding talented industry focused teams such as ERCO, and we are pleased to join with FCP to help us achieve our plans to expand renewable energy throughout the region,” says Mukesh Prasad, managing partner of Innova.
Patricia Rodriguez, Innova’s head of Latin American development, adds: “We believe our investment in ERCO underscores the opportunity and need for Colombia to diversify its energy matrix, which is currently 70 per cent hydropower, into renewable energy such as solar.”
“Our fund and its LP have been looking for EPC assets in Colombia and the region. While regulation is just being put in place, the Distributed Generation opportunity had been already taking shape, and new regulations only make the opportunity more robust. Since FCP discovered ERCO, we were impressed by the vision of its Founders and excited by the strategic fit of ERCO with our portfolio strategy,” says Felipe Zarate, general manager and key person of FCP.
"We believe that Innova's international experience and FCP's strategic business vision will allow us to expand our operation, increase our market share and continue to strengthen our position as one of the most important solar energy companies in Colombia. We are pleased to have found allies that are fully aligned with our growth prospects and our vision of solar business in the region,” say Juan Camilo López and Juan Esteban Hincapié, co-founders of ERCO.
