MENA – Inspired Evolution’s Evolution II Fund, has patnered with Building Energy’s management, to launch the newly branded integrated IPP, Red Rocket, after a succcesful buy-out of Building Energy’s Africa and Middle East business.
The new joint venture will see the re-capitalisation and positioning of Red Rocket to become one of Africa’s leading emerging renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs).
Evolution II holds a majority shareholding in the reconfigured IPP platform and is advised by Inspired Evolution, an Africa-focused investment advisory firm that specialises in clean energy infrastructure and resource efficiency investments.
The partnership brings together two seasoned professional teams with deep sector experience and proven renewable energy project development and auction conversion success to ramp up Red Rocket’s activities across Africa.
The buy-out deal leverages the resources of multiple Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and international investors together with local leading South African investment institutions active across Africa, secured via Inspired Evolution and Red Rocket’s existing relationships, to strengthen and forge stronger partnerships for its African expansion.
“We are pleased to be partnering with Inspired Evolution who bring sector expertise and proven project finance return performance to augment our efforts in building Red Rocket into one of Africa’s premier long-hold utility-scale IPP platforms offering least-cost clean and reliable energy to African customers,” Matteo Brambilla, Chief Executive Officer of the Red Rocket Group, said.
“Our auction successes under the REIPPPP in South Africa and in select countries across Africa are testament to the innovation we continually apply to our renewable energy public and private bid strategies.”
Red Rocket is an integrated renewable energy IPP that develops, designs, constructs, operates, and owns utility-scale grid-connected renewable energy projects (wind, solar, hydro and biomass) with operations in multiple countries across Africa.
“Backing a commercially-astute professional team with demonstrated bid success to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale clean energy infrastructure in targeted countries across Africa, contributes to our mission,” Christopher Clarke, managing patner at Inspired Evolution said.
“We share the vision with management for Red Rocket to continue to improve its competitiveness with agility and innovation to become a credible high-impact IPP platform of choice.”
The company was originally set up as the Africa and Middle East business unit of Building Energy’s global operations.
Its portfolio comprises 377MW of projects in operation, under construction and awarded under public and private bids.
The Group is also developing a portfolio in excess of 2GW of additional best-in-class wind, solar, hydro and biomass projects to bid under future rounds of South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme (REIPPPP), and other procurement programmes across various African countries.
