The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP) has announced its investment towards the Series A shares of Yellow Door Energy, the UAE-based solar power developer
The fund, as part of a consortium of international and regional banks and amounting to a total of US$65mn, is expected to enable Yellow Door Energy to scale its investments in solar energy and efficiency solutions in emerging markets and generate 300MW of solar energy over the next two years.
Commenting on the announcement, Dr Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP, said, ?The solar energy market still has significant untapped potential within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), with companies like Yellow Door Energy achieving major breakthroughs in leveraging opportunities to meet the region?s growing demand for power.?
Other investors in the deal include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mitsui & Co, Ltd, Equinor Energy Ventures and the UAE-based Adenium Energy Capital (Adenium), the founding investor of Yellow Door Energy since 2015.
According to APICORP, the planned investments in the power sector in MENA are estimated at US$187bn for the next five years, of which renewables account for US$83bn.
With a mission to enable the growth of renewable and sustainable energy within the region, APICORP is focusing on alternative energy projects to support the region?s transition towards a sustainable energy future, Ali Attiga added.
Jeremy Crane, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Door Energy, commented, ?We aim to build 300MW of solar in the next two years, benefitting hundreds of businesses and the broader economy.?
This investment in Yellow Door Energy represents APICORP?s first investment in renewables and distributed solar power generation and is one of the larger private placements into commercial and industrial (C&I) solar energy in MENA.
Going forward, APICORP is also set to increase its financing in this sector and enhance the level of private capital infusion within the alternative energy space.
