Access and EREN launch Africa focused power development company

Access Power MEA (‘Access’), a power project developer focused on the Middle East and Africa, and EREN, a leader in renewable energy, have announced the launch of Access Infra Africa, a vehicle that will be dedicated to invest in the early stage development of power projects in Africa.
Access Infra Africa will be the largest privately funded vehicle of its kind. The partners intend to implement an ambitious development plan leading to the realisation of a portfolio of power assets in Africa worth over 500 million US Dollars.
Under the agreement, EREN will acquire a strategic equity stake in Access and a seat on the board.
David Corchia, CEO of EREN Développement, said: “Access Infra Africa perfectly illustrates EREN’s strategy of developing renewable projects in areas of the world where renewable energy represents a competitive answer to growing local energy needs, such as Africa. We are thrilled to bring our global expertise in the field of renewable energy to Access’ world-class team and strong regional presence.”
Reda El Chaar, chairman of Access, said: “EREN and its founders are without a doubt, global pioneers of renewable energy. We are delighted to be joining forces to develop sustainable and affordable power assets across Africa which today houses seven out of the ten world’s fastest growing economies.”
El Chaar added: “Africa’s energy sector and wider economy could be transformed by the billions of dollars of financing available for Africa. However, this funding cannot have an impact without well-resourced and experienced developers willing to take early-stage project risk and turn good concepts into bankable projects.”
On 4th January 2015, the Access Infra Africa consortium was pre-qualified by Egypt’s Ministry of Electricity to develop large scale wind and solar power plants as part of the first round of Egypt’s renewable energy procurement program.
In December 2014, Access was awarded the contract to build, own and operate the first solar power plant in Uganda, a 10 MWp solar photovoltaic facility in Soroti, Northeastern Uganda. Once complete, the plant will be the second largest privately owned solar PV project in Africa excluding South Africa.
Access Power MEA (‘Access’) was founded in 2012 with the aim of becoming a leading developer of power assets in the Middle East and Africa. Access has assembled a development team with a track record of financially closing ~30 GW of power projects across the globe with a specific focus on the MEA region.
Access is developing a portfolio of power assets in Africa through its subsidiary Access Infra Africa (AIA). Today, AIA is actively seeking the development of a portfolio of renewable energy projects in 15 Africa countries. AIA is technology agnostic and focuses on developing affordable and sustainable power assets.
EREN Développement is focused on developing power projects in countries where renewable energy represents an economically viable response to growing energy demands.
Through partnerships established with local developers, Eren has accumulated a portfolio of over 400 MW of renewable energy assets in operation or under construction, and over 1,500 MW of assets under development in less than three years. Eren Développement is a subsidiary of EREN, the first group dedicated to natural resource efficiency, founded by Pâris Mouratoglou and David Corchia.