DPA Kenya Secures $2.7 Million to Deploy Solar Energy Solutions to C&I Customers

Distributed Power Africa (DPA) has secured $2.7 million in funding for its Kenyan subsidiary from Mirova SunFunder, a leading impact investor focused on financing distributed renewable energy solutions. The funding will enable DPA Kenya Ltd. to deploy solar energy solutions to commercial and industrial (C&I) customers in the country.

DPA, a part of Cassava Technologies with French utility EDF as its partner, is set to unlock additional solar energy solutions in the Kenyan C&I sector. DPA expects to deploy more solar sites with a total capacity of 3 MW, utilizing this financing equivalent to Ksh 332 million.

Norman Moyo, CEO of DPA, commented, “We believe energy is a key pillar in supporting Africa’s economic development and digital transformation. With this investment, we expect to see increased uptake of renewable energy by enterprises in Kenya”.

Hardy Pemhiwa, Group President & CEO of Cassava Technologies, said, DPA’s existing partnership with EDF and the new relationship with Mirova Sunfunder will ensure that C&I businesses in Kenya can adopt hybrid solar energy and lithium battery technology. This will lead the way to better energy resilience, increased business efficiencies, and reduced carbon footprints in the energy sector. 

For Mirova SunFunder, this new funding is another milestone in expanding their provision of financing in the Kenyan energy market through their innovative Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which has been fully deployed. The investment firm is working on a new $500 million fund called the Gigaton Fund to accelerate the adoption of clean energy and climate solutions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Audrey Desiderato, Mirova SunFunder’s co-founder and COO, said their local presence and financial expertise along with the extensive customer pipeline of pan-African companies like DPA, will accelerate the scaling of cost-effective solar energy solutions to the C&I sector in Kenya. 

DPA develops and operates renewable energy projects across Africa with a key focus on Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. It provides clean and reliable energy solutions to data centers, telecom switching centers, telecom towers, hospitals, manufacturing plants, and other large-scale industries.