Netherlands-based Climate Fund Managers has raised a family of blended finance facilities (Climate Investor One, Two and Three) to invest debt and equity in renewable energy, water and sanitation, green grids and other climate-resilient solutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Climate Investor Two, which leveraged a tranche of first-loss capital to raise more than $850 million, has invested $3.1 million in a joint waste-to-energy project with Infinitum Energy Group, a developer of renewable energy, energy storage and waste-to-energy systems.
“This partnership underscores the importance of blended finance to absorb early-stage project risks and develop innovative infrastructure solutions in emerging markets,” said CFM’s Darron Johnson. Last month, CFM launched Climate Investor Three with €150 million ($155 million) from European investors and donors. The facility has backed green hydrogen and energy transition projects and country-specific climate funds, including SDG Namibia One and South Africa’s SA-H2 Fund.
The Freetown-based project will incinerate waste to power steam turbines and generate electricity. Infinitum aims to divert over 1000 tons of waste per day from bodies of water and dumpsites, incorporating local small businesses in the waste-collection process. The project is expected to create over 1,700 jobs and provide energy to over 3 million people in Sierra Leone, where around 30% of the population has access to electricity. A similar startup, Freetown Waste Transformers, secured a grant from UK non-profit GSMA in 2022 to digitize the waste collection process.
