The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral development financial institution, announced today that it has signed USD 50 million revolving construction facility with Yellow Door Energy Limited (”Yellow Door Energy”), a leading UAE based sustainable energy provider for businesses, to develop solar-PV plants in the region with key emphasis on Jordan and Pakistan.
Yellow Door Energy currently has over 110 megawatts of solar assets operating and under construction in the UAE, Jordan, and Pakistan, with recent expansions into Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Oman.
The first utilization of the financing will be for solar PV projects in Jordan, where Yellow Door Energy is currently operating and building 79 MW of solar PV projects across the country – the largest such portfolio of any company operating there.
Yellow Door Energy is one of APICORP’s investee companies and in 2019 the Corporation and a consortium of international and regional banks invested USD 65 million in Yellow Door Energy to scale up investments in solar energy and efficiency solutions in emerging markets.
Dr Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP, said: “For years, APICORP has been a trusted financial partner in the region’s energy sector, and we are delighted to extend further support to Yellow Door Energy as it scales up its solar operations in into new markets. APICORP is also one of Yellow Door Energy’s shareholders, and the revolving construction facility demonstrates our commitment to accelerate the sustainable energy transition in the region. APICORP’s financing portfolio is now over 15% green and we are looking to continue to increase this as we move towards our strategic priorities for the energy transition.”
“These sorts of agreements are a key focus for us at a time when regional policymakers are prioritizing distributed solar projects and demand for renewables has reached an all-time high across the MENA region and globally. We firmly believe that with the right mix of regulations, technology and financing, renewable energy has a massive potential to make inroads in the MENA region,” further noted Dr Attiga.
Jeremy Crane, CEO of Yellow Door Energy, said: "Yellow Door Energy is pleased to be working with APICORP again to propel our mission to provide low cost, reliable and sustainable energy solutions to businesses across MENA. This USD50 million revolving construction facility demonstrates the innovative thinking that makes APICORP and Yellow Door Energy leaders in their respective fields. The rapid growth of Yellow Door Energy needs flexible and affordable funding arrangements to support our international growth. With over USD50 million of solar and energy efficiency projects currently under construction, we continue to be the leader in the region’s energy transition."
In light of the growing demand for electric power and environmental concerns, governments and policymakers are embracing alternate sources of energy such as solar, as they offer numerous advantages including reduction in electricity costs, long-term savings and being more environmentally-friendly.
APICORP has significantly increased financing and equity investments in green technologies over the last several years to comprise over 15% of its current financing portfolio. In addition to its investment in Yellow Door Energy, APICORP provided a USD40 million financing facility to Saudi Arabia’s first independent sewage treatment plant to bring more cost-effective technologies to wastewater recycling.
A rapidly emerging sector within the regional energy mix, APICORP forecasts that USD97 billion of the USD237 billion the MENA region will need to invest in the power sector over the next 5 years to meet its energy needs will be in the renewables sector.
The legal advisors in the transaction were Norton Rose Fulbright for APICORP and Stephenson Harwood Middle East LLP for Yellow Door Energy. DNV GL acted as Yellow Door Energy’s technical advisor.