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Commercial and industrial clients in Africa are building on-site solar in an effort to trim costs and lock in fixed, long-term costs and avoid the volatile pricing and power outages of national grids. Most such solar projects have been financed with cash, according to a BNEF study; developers cite a lack of debt financing as the biggest obstacle to project completion.
CrossBoundary Energy develops and finances solar-powered mini-grids with battery storage for African businesses in mining, agriculture, manufacturing, real estate and other sectors. South Africa’s Standard Bank is providing CrossBoundary with $140 million in senior debt to expand its commercial and industrial portfolio. “Scalable, affordable infrastructure financing solutions are a catalyst to unlock reliable and affordable power access for businesses on the continent,” said CrossBoundary’s Pieter Joubert.
Commercial capital
The $140 million loan represents the first tranche of a total of $300 million in senior debt earmarked by Standard Bank for CrossBoundary, and follows a $20 million investment from the bank last year. The partnership with Standard Bank will help CrossBoundary “expand and accelerate energy-as-a-service to African customers,” Joubert said.
In addition to serving industrial customers, CrossBoundary in 2020 launched CrossBoundary Access, a blended finance facility for mini-grids in rural Africa, which raised $10 million last year from AfDB’s Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa.
