Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
Partnering with FMO and Proparco, we committed $25 million to Planet Solar, alongside DI Frontier Fund II, bringing the total equity investment into the project to $52 million. The project aims to stimulate investment in renewable energy, responding to the urgent need for access to clean, affordable, and stable power in Sierra Leone.
Impact information
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
What?
| Impact |
|---|
|
|
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
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Fund the addition of 15 megawatts of solar generation capacity to increase the supply and reliability of renewable electricity for grid-connected public institutions, residential, and commercial consumers. In turn, this will enable increased productivity, output and employment. Avoid greenhouse gas emissions by reducing reliance on fossil fuel generation plants. |
This is the first large-scale solar independent power producer (IPP) in Sierra Leone. If successful, the project could have a market catalysing impact by improving the enabling environment and creating additional track record for the IPP model in the country. This could facilitate subsequent projects and reduce uncertainty and perceived risk among private sector investors. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Consumers |
Sierra Leone |
Urban households concentrated in Freetown and Western Area. |
| Employees |
Sierra Leone |
Employees of firms in Freetown and Western Area likely concentrated in manufacturing and retail trade. |
| Planet |
Global |
N/A |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
|
Up to 178,000 households, around 325 health facilities and around 1,580 schools are connected to grids owned and operated by the Electricity Distribution and Supply Authority. |
Depth: Depth of impact on productivity expected to be modest due to the intermittency of solar PV technology, which limits the project’s impact on increasing reliability of supply. Depth of impact on sustainability is around 12,750 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent avoided per year. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
|
Financial additionality: Our contribution is driven by financial additionality as equity capital from commercial financial investors is not available for power infrastructure projects in Sierra Leone. DFI capital is required to finance utility-scale power projects in the country given elevated country, off-taker and execution risks, which exceed appetite for most impact-focussed private sector investors. |
Risk
External RiskTransmission and distribution network may be unable to deliver all power generated by the project to customers due to dilapidated lines and poor maintenance (current technical and commercial losses at around 38 per cent). Partly mitigated by World Bank funded project to carry out simultaneous transmission and distribution infrastructure upgrades. External RiskInsufficient available baseload capacity would challenge the integration of further intermittent renewable energy capacity into the grid. Partially mitigated by the Côte d'Ivoire-Liberia-Sierra Leone-Guinea interconnector, enabling importing of baseload power from Côte d'Ivoire to supplement domestic supply. |
Impact score
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Impact score (at point of investment)
The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here. The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party. |
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10 |
Environmental and social information
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Environmental and social summary
A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
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Environmental and social risk
A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.
Environmental and social summary
We partnered with our fund manager to co-invest in this company, including the ESDD and a joint ESAP. The ESAP plan focuses on additional E&S capacity, development and implementation of an appropriate ESMS with a focus on community engagement, labour and working conditions and supply-chain management.
Environmental and social risk
High
Reporting and Complaints Mechanism
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.
For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- March 2024
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- December 2024
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D5698
- Status
:
The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
- Active
- Region
:
The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
- West Africa
- Country
:
The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
- Sierra Leone
- Sector
:
We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.
- Infrastructure
- Sub sector:
- Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers
- Investment type :
- Equity
- Start date :
- October 2023
- Amount :
- $10.4m
- Currency of investment :
- USD
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- Denmark
We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.
For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.
For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.
For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.
For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.
For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.
The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.
For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.
The currency in which the investment was made.
- Climate finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.
- Fully qualified
- Climate finance type:
- Mitigation
- Energy type
:
Renewable energy types include energy sources with very low lifecycle emissions such as solar, wind and tidal or those meeting a certain criteria such as hydro power, biomass or geothermal. For fossil fuel energy types, this includes coal, oil and gas. Mixed energy types for direct investments supports a combination of fossil fuel and renewable assets. For Funds labelled as mixed these investments may contain a combination of fossil fuel, renewables, and/or non-energy assets but not necessarily all three.
- Renewable
- First published
