Norfund invests in various renewable energy sources, including solar, wind, hydropower, biomass, and geothermal energy, ranging from large-scale grid-connected plants to smaller distributed generation projects and off-grid solutions. Additionally, Norfund invests in enabling technologies like energy storage and transmission, which support the utilization of renewable solutions.
Approximately 750 million people worldwide lack access to electricity, 80% live in sub-Saharan Africa. Investing in renewable energy enables job creation, economic growth, improves living standards and mitigates climate change.
Key achievements in 2024
committed
new capacity financed, 100% renewable
new households gained access to electricity
Access to reliable energy supply, in particular electricity, is essential for development. Without access to reliable and affordable power, businesses and public services struggle to maintain operations. Furthermore, household energy use is closely linked to living standards and welfare. Enabling greater access to energy thus plays an instrumental role in both economic development and living standard improvements.
Meeting growing energy needs with fossil fuels is simply no longer an option given the acuteness of the climate crisis. All countries must transition to a renewable and carbon free power sector. The opportunity to do so is real – most developing countries have abundant renewable resources and have the possibility to leapfrog directly to renewable technologies that are now technically and commercially viable.
Developing countries require about $1.7 trillion annually in renewable energy investments to meet their energy needs, including investments for power grids, transmission lines, and storage. In emerging markets and developing economies (excluding China) annual investments need to increase by 30% per year to meet the goal of tripling installed renewable energy capacity by 2030.
Both governments and consumers in many countries are looking for renewable energy solutions. Innovations like low-cost solar panels, new battery technologies, and digital payment systems are making rural electrification more accessible. Solar home systems and mini-grid solutions are also becoming more affordable and popular, requiring companies to secure working capital for growth.
Norfund’s energy strategy targets four areas:
1. Grid-connected, large scale power plants
2. Enabling technologies to support renewables integration, including storage and transmission
3. Smaller scale power plants supplying energy directly to commercial and industrial consumers
4. Off-grid power supply for households, small businesses and telecoms
We are increasingly seeing the private sector develop solutions to provide renewable power directly to commercial and industrial off-takers. These solutions cover both “behind the meter” installations as well as power wheeled across the grid. This business area is evolving to include power trading, as well as investment in last-mile network infrastructure and storage.
Integrating large-scale renewables into the grid involves managing intermittency and increasing grid capacity to link areas rich in renewable energy sources with areas of demand. Thus, Norfund’s energy strategy includes investing in both stand-alone storage facilities and grid enhancements.
Consistent with our overarching strategy, we primarily offer equity, investing directly in companies taking risk alongside other investors. Our debt investments focus primarily on the off-grid sector, supporting their working capital needs.
We are willing to support companies to develop larger project portfolios such as Globeleq and Cross Boundary Energy in Africa, Fourth Partner Limited and SAEL in India and BECIS in Southeast Asia. We have also supported the growth of local entities such as H1 and Pele in South Africa, where we have provided additional capital as these businesses have grown.
Looking forward, Norfund aims to expand its renewables portfolio in target markets, leveraging and broadening our investment platforms and partnerships, and engaging with new sponsors.
Strategic ambitions
Norfund has defined the following ambitions for the strategy period 2023-2026:
- 6.5 million new households provided with access to electricity
- 6.5 GW new renewable capacity financed
Investments and results in 2024
By year end, Renewable Energy under the development mandate accounted for 27.8% of our total portfolio with a total of 42 investments.
committed in 2024
committed in total RE portfolio
Investments per region
Investments per region in 2024
Total portfolio per region
Highlights of 2024
new investee companies
follow-on investments
new fund investment
Green Guarantee Company
Norfund participated in the establishment of The Green Guarantee Company – a non-bank financial institution with the mandate to issue credit guarantees towards companies mitigating greenhouse gas emissions, primarily renewables. The institution has been established with an initial capital base of USD 100m and has the capacity to issue guarantees of up to 10x this volume. The Green Guarantee Company aims to mobilize institutional investors to bring capital to these projects in our target markets.
Supporting growth in portfolio companies
In 2024 we provided additional capital to a number of our investees to finance their growth in existing and new markets. Examples include:
- Globeleq: Norfund and BII committed equity funding to our investee Globeleq to fund their expansion in renewables. This includes a large-scale battery project in South Africa, a 120 MW wind project in Mozambique and 2x20 MW solar projects in Zambia.
- Berkeley Energy Commercial and Industrial Solutions (BECIS) provides energy services, including rooftop solar, steam from biomass and energy efficiency solutions to clients in India and Southeast Asia. Together with other shareholders, Norfund and KLP participated in an increase in the company’s equity capital.
- Cross Boundary Energy (CBE) is a provider of renewable power directly to off-takers and has grown especially within the mining sector in Africa. Norfund and KLP provided bridge financing which, together with a debt facility from Stanbic, will support execution of their pipeline of projects.
- Erco Energia is a pioneer in the provision of behind the meter solutions for commercial and industrial consumers in Colombia. Norfund first invested in Erco in late 2023 and the company has pivoted from rooftop and small ground-mounted systems to medium-sized solar plant supplying power to the Colombian market. Norfund provided additional capital, together with debt from a local bank, to finance execution of such projects.
- Aktivco, a subsidiary of Camusat, provides renewable energy solutions for telecom installations across several countries in West Africa. In 2024 Norfund and Proparco joined the funds “Facility for Energy Inclusion” (also a Norfund investee) and “Africa Go Green” in subscribing to a €68m bond to finance expansion in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire and Madagascar.
Renewable Energy portfolio (Development Mandate)
| Investment | Country | Committed year | Sector | Instrument | Stake | Domicile | Committed (MNOK) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Globeleq | Regional | 2014 | Energy | Loans Equity | 30% | United Kingdom | 2692.9 |
| Fourth Partner Energy | India | 2021 | Solar power | Equity | N/A | India | 905.2 |
| Agua Imara | Global | 2021 | Hydropower | Loans Equity | 100% | Norway | 826.7 |
| Klinchenberg | Regional | 2021 | Hydropower | Equity | 50% | Netherlands | 784.6 |
| Copperbelt Energy Corporation | Zambia | 2023 | Energy | Equity | 24% | UK for holding company | 736.9 |
| Berkeley Energy Commercial & Industrial Solutions | Regional | 2020 | Other/hybrid renewables | Loans Equity | 13% | Singapore | 586.2 |
| H1 Pele SPV | South Africa | 2021 | Wind power | Loans | 0% | South Africa | 575.4 |
| ERCO Energia | Colombia | 2022 | Solar power | Equity | N/A | Colombia | 537.8 |
| AktivCo | Regional | 2021 | Solar power | Loans | 0% | France | 447.5 |
| Cross Boundary Energy | Regional | 2022 | Solar power | Equity | 18% | Mauritius | 437.1 |
| Green Roof | Vietnam | 2021 | Solar power | Equity | 50% | Singapore | 431.9 |
| Serengeti Energy | Regional | 2017 | Hydropower and Solar power | Equity | 11% | Mauritius | 273.7 |
| Sun King Financing Limited | Kenya | 2023 | Solar power | Loans | 0% | Jersey | 241.6 |
| Scatec Agua Fria | Honduras | 2014 | Solar power | Loans Equity | 45% | Honduras | 217.7 |
| FEI - Facility for Energy Inclusion | Regional | 2019 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 18% | Mauritius | 214.9 |
| Metier Sustainable Capital Fund II | Regional | 2019 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 13% | Mauritius | 187.8 |
| ICCF | Global | 2010 | Other/hybrid renewables | Loans | N/A | Luxembourg | 185.0 |
| Empower New Energy | Regional | 2022 | Other/hybrid renewables | Loans Equity | 18% | Norway | 163.3 |
| WeLight | Regional | 2019 | Energy | Loans Equity | 30% | Mauritius | 150.2 |
| Evolution Fund II (Through KNI) | Global | 2019 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 7% | Mauritius | 137.9 |
| Kiangan | Philippines | 2021 | Hydropower | Loans | 0% | Singapore | 125.6 |
| ESCOTEL | Regional | 2020 | Solar power | Loans Equity | 31% | Mauritius | 113.3 |
| REPP 2.0 | Regional | 2024 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 16% | Luxembourg | 113.3 |
| Baobab+ | Regional | 2021 | Solar power | Loans Equity | 25% | France | 109.6 |
| Yoma Micro Power | Myanmar | 2017 | Solar power | Loans Equity | 15% | Singapore | 101.2 |
| d.light | Global | 2016 | Solar power | Loans Equity | 6% | United States of America | 80.6 |
| Nordic Impact Cooperation (NIC) | Global | 2022 | Solar power | Equity | 33% | Norway | 79.1 |
| responsAbility ACPF | Global | 2019 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 8% | Luxembourg | 77.8 |
| SUSI Asia Energy Transition Fund (Through KNI) | Regional | 2021 | Renewable energy fund | Funds | 6% | Luxembourg | 73.4 |
| Schneider Electric Energy Access Asia | Regional | 2019 | Energy | Funds | 30% | France | 69.9 |
| Scatec Benban | Egypt | 2015 | Solar power | Equity | 12% | Netherlands | 64.8 |
| Green Guarantee Company | Global | 2024 | Other/hybrid renewables | Equity | 5% | Guernsey | 52.8 |
| Scatec Los Prados | Honduras | 2015 | Solar power | Equity | 15% | Honduras | 49.1 |
| Scatec Barzalosa | Colombia | 2024 | Solar power | Equity | N/A | Colombia | 45.1 |
| Brighter Life Kenya 2 | Kenya | 2022 | Solar power | Loans | 0% | Jersey | 42.7 |
| PRAC: Prime Road Solar | Cambodia | 2021 | Solar power | Loans | 0% | Cambodia | 41.2 |
| Neo1 Solar Plant | Lesotho | 2018 | Solar power | Equity | 15% | Lesotho | 23.8 |
| Lobu Dolom HPP | Indonesia | 2021 | Hydropower | Loans | 0% | Norway | 11.4 |
| Eco-Nor | Regional | 2019 | Hydropower | Equity | 15% | Mauritius | 8.1 |
| Rwimi | Uganda | 2015 | Hydropower | Loans | 0% | Uganda | 7.4 |
| Bio2Watt Cape Dairy | South Africa | 2014 | Biomass | Loans | 0% | South Africa | 6.2 |