The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Rockefeller Foundation have announced a partnership mobilise up to $2 billion of private sector investment into distributed renewable energy solutions. In this effort, about $150 million of the foundation’s capital will be deployed in blended finance.
The Rockefeller Foundation and IFC will de-risk capital investment in distributed renewable projects in emerging markets by blending philanthropic and private investment funding. This is expected to help improve access to energy on a global level.Sub-Saharan African countries and select other regions will be prioritised by the partnership. The countries where this partnership will be deployed will eventually encompass more regions.
Initially, a rapid deployment phase will be commenced where about $30 million will be distributed in blended concessional finance and grant capital towards a pipeline of projects being developed by the IFC. These include IFC’s prototype scaling mini-grid programme, as well as distributed renewable energy generation, battery energy storage and other innovative clean energy technologies.
Some of these projects are a part of IFC’s upstream practice. The upstream practice has a goal to set up markets in the most challenging environments and facilitate investment projects in the future. The work includes technical assistance, targeted feasibility studies, and cost-sharing support to private sector clients and governments.
IFC has been financing low-cost renewable energy, having funded projects with a generation capacity of approximately 8 GW in hydropower, 6 GW in solar energy, and 5 GW in wind energy. Through its energy practice, IFC supports the growth of wind and solar energy, deployment of offshore wind, battery storage, distributed generation, electric vehicles, and green shipping in emerging markets, among other technologies.