AllOn, others support renewable energy companies with $10 million financing facility
Solomon Ezeme
International Impact Investments Company, AllOn, Odyssey Energy Solutions, and the Global Alliance for People and Planet (The Alliance), have initiated a new equipment procurement program – “Demand Aggregation for Renewable Technology (DART)” – with a $10-million financing facility to ensure affordable, high quality solar products delivery to communities in Nigeria.
This was disclosed Tuesday, in a statement by the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).
The program which is expected to accelerate the growth of renewable energy sector in Africa, will also be implemented in four other pilot countries in the continent after its commencement in Nigeria.
DART aims at boosting overall investments and attract more foreign and local investors, particularly commercial banks as lenders, to the renewable energy sector in Nigeria and Africa.
The Equipment Finance Facility for Nigeria is seeded by adding $5million investment from both AllOn and The Alliance, respectively.
Speaking on the motive behind the partnership, AllOn CEO, Wiebe Boer, said the project will help companies reduce cost and take advantage of economies of scale in their business operations.
“We are particularly excited about this deal which will inject much needed capital into the renewable energy sector in Nigeria.
“This innovative partnership provides a solution to industry challenges such as high finance costs and lack of scale, by ensuring price competitiveness, supply chain optimization and unlocking local currency financing,” he said.
Eric Wanless, Managing Director of Innovation for the Alliance, said, “We are excited to launch the DART program in Nigeria as an important part of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, which is accelerating the transition to renewable energy access for all, reducing emissions and creating jobs.
“Aggregating the procurement of standardized DRE products will ensure low-cost, reliable, and clean energy is empowering people and businesses in Nigeria.”
The new program will ensure the combination of demand pooling and aggregated purchasing of solar equipment, access to affordable finance and coordinated logistics processes for unlocking economies of scale for solar energy companies in Nigeria.
It will also help to maximize cost savings for end users of solar systems, across the country.
As part of the partnership agreement, Odyssey Energy Solutions will be in charge of aggregated procurement of the equipment needed in Nigeria and in four additional countries in Africa.
It will manage the global platform to standardize equipment, supervise supplier relationships, process solar company orders and link developers with finance partners.
The company’s CEO, Emily McAteer, said, “We are excited about the potential for demand aggregation and centralization of procurement and logistics services to dramatically drive down the cost of key distributed renewables equipment, and accelerate project deployment.
While commending the new initiative, Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Co-Chair of the UN-Energy, described the program as a plus to the country.
He stated the program will be instrumental in helping Nigeria bridge the the energy access gap and ensure that the Federal Government’s energy transition goal is attained.
“The DART mechanism is a huge win for Nigeria”, he said.
“It would go a long way in achieving much needed economies of scale by bringing together finance providers, aggregated procurement agents, and specialized logistics.
“This is an example of the kind of innovation and collaboration needed to close the energy access gap, enable a just and inclusive energy transition, and unlock a sustainable future for all.
“I am particularly impressed by this collaboration between All On, Odyssey, and the Global Energy Alliance and that Nigeria has been selected as the country in which to kick- start this initiative,” he said.
