Swedfund expands renewable energy portfolio with USD 15 million commitment to blended finance

Sweden’s Development Finance Institution, Swedfund, continues to expand its portfolio within renewable energy by investing USD 15 million in the fund Climate Investor One. The fund develops, builds and operates renewable energy projects in developing countries. The fund’s pioneering blended finance structure seeks to leverage private capital to impact investments in emerging markets.

- Access to clean, reliable energy is a prerequisite for poverty reduction, which is why investments in energy are prioritised for Swedfund, says CEO Maria Håkansson. Climate Investor One is also an interesting example of how financing from private investors can be channelled to developing countries which is necessary if we are to reach the Sustainable Development Goals.

Lack of reliable and clean energy is one of the biggest challenges for developing countries. It hinders economic growth and affects poor people the most. Individuals and businesses are forced to produce their own means of energy, in many cases using diesel generators or wood-burning stoves, which is expensive and harmful to people’s health and to the environment.

Today around one billion people do not have access to electricity. Access to affordable, reliable and clean energy is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Encouragingly enough, the technical conditions for renewable energy are often good in developing countries, but many potential projects are not implemented due to lack of knowledge and financing. Climate Investor One seeks to remedy this by investing in renewable energy from solar-, wind and hydropower in developing countries including Sub-Saharan Africa.

The fund aims to increase the availability of renewable energy by more than 1,000 MW and contribute to creating around 10,000 jobs. The fund expects to deliver affordable clean electricity to approximately 7 million people. In addition, Climate Investor One expects to contribute to the reduction of approximately 1.8 million tons of CO2 annually, which equates to removing around 350,000 passenger cars off the roads.

Among other investors in the fund are the Dutch Development Finance Institution, FMO, and Scandinavian and Dutch investors.

For further information see: www.climateinvestorone.com