Evolution One Fund, a ZAR700m clean technology private equity fund, has committed to invest up to ZAR146m (approximately USD20m) into Red Cap’s Kouga wind farm, located in the Kouga local municipality of the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa.
Red Cap’s Kouga wind farm is a 100 MW wind energy project, prioritised as a first phase build out of a larger pipeline of 300MWs.
Evolution One’s investment will contribute to cleaner energy generation in South Africa and create local jobs.
Christopher Clarke, principal and director of Inspired Evolution, says: “We identified Red Cap because of the pedigree of its development team, the strength of the project advisors, and the proven approach the team takes to minimising technology and execution risks. This positions them well for success in the future and we are very pleased to be a part of it.”
Wayne Keast, managing partner of Evolution One Fund, says: “We made use of the United Nations Environment Program’s Seed Capital Assistance Facility to part fund Red Cap’s development and secure rights to 26 per cent of the wind portfolio at financial close, which gives our investors access to this wind pipeline at lower cost and risk. We are also assisting in negotiations with respect to competitive senior debt facilities with our DFI and sovereign investor base, to complement local commercial debt lead arrangers, which should further enhance the returns to the fund.”
Inspired Evolution has raised its first USD94m fund for deployment into clean technologies focussed on new energy and the environment located throughout South Africa and SADC region countries. The fund’s investors include the IFC, Castleway, the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund and development funds from Norway, Switzerland and Finland. The African Development Bank and the Industrial Development Corporation of Southern Africa are also investors.
