Gigawatt Global Rwanda Ltd
Status: Approved investmentWhy disclosure?
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Disclaimer
The information as disclosed is indicative and provided on an "as-is/as available" basis for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial, legal or investment advice, nor as a commitment or an offer to arrange or provide any financing. The final decision to provide financing is subject to the terms and conditions of FMO in its sole and absolute discretion. When providing links to other sites, FMO bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. The information on proposed investment for high-risk investments is made available in the language relevant to the country or region where the bulk of operations take place. Translations of any information into languages other than English are intended as a convenience for local stakeholders. In case of any discrepancy, the information provided in English will prevail.
Who is our customer
Gigawatt Global Rwanda Ltd will develop an 8.5MW solar PV power plant in Rwanda. The PV plant will be located 60 km from the capital, Kigali, on land belonging to the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village (ASYV), a residential and educational community for youth orphaned during and after the genocide in 1994. Our client will lease the land from ASYV, thereby providing the community with regular annual income. The area is well suited for solar energy generation and annual production is estimated at 16 million kilowatt hours (kWh). The electricity will be fed into the national grid under a 25 year power purchase agreement with the Rwanda Energy, Water and Sanitation Authority (EWSA). Construction will start immediately and commercial operation of the park is expected by the summer of 2014.
What is our funding objective?
The funds will all go towards the construction and development of the solar PV power plant. The capital investment for the project will be financed through FMO, the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund and Norfund, all three institutions with extensive experience investing in developing countries, including Rwanda. The shareholders of the solar PV power plant are Scatec Solar, Norfund and project developer Gigawatt Global.
Why do we fund this investment?
FMO CIO Linda Broekhuizen commented on the signing of the loan documentation for the project: "FMO is very proud to have arranged the senior debt package for this true frontier transaction with such large development impact, which provides renewable energy to a country with urgent electricity needs." Solar power is a clean form of energy, and Rwanda has huge solar potential that can be developed by pioneers like Gigawatt Global Rwanda Ltd successfully constructing and operating projects. Currently, less than 10% of Rwanda's 11 million people have access to electricity, and the entire country has less than 100MW of generating capacity. Rwanda is one of the lease electrified countries in the world, which can hamper its future economic growth. When it becomes operational in the summer of 2014, this plant will be the first large-scale solar PV power plant in sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of South Africa. FMO hopes it can be an example for the region and that many more large scale solar PV power projects will follow.
More investments
| Date | Total FMO financing |
|---|---|
| 2/4/2014 | USD 10.60 MLN |
- Website customer/investment
- https://gigawattglobal.com/
- Region
- Africa
- Country
- Rwanda
- Sector
- Energy
- Effective date
- 2/4/2014
- Total FMO financing
- USD 1.70 MLN
- Funding
- AEF-I
-
Risk categorization on environmental and social impacts, A = high risk, B+ = medium high risk, B = medium risk, C = low risk
Environmental & Social Category
(A, B+, B or C) - B