The Support Facility either supports projects contributing to the development of GEEREF’s pipeline or assists projects in which GEEREF invested.

Below an overview of our facility users:

The Regional Technical Support Facility, of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), has awarded a grant of € 1.000.000 to Barefoot Power to accelerate its development from early venture mode to growth mode as it seeks further finance for expanding its shipping of containers of products to developing countries (e.g. India and Indonesia), strengthen its organisational structure and open up new markets as required, to achieve economies of scale and ramp up its positive environmental impact.

Barefoot Power is a social enterprise supplying low-cost solar equipment to off-grid populations (currently using kerosene lamps) in Uganda, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and several ACP countries. This TA contribution is funded by the the European Commission's Regional Funds Support Facility and is expected to catalyse “Barefoot Angels Trade Finance Fund” and “Barefoot Development Fund”. These two funds will be dedicated to increase Barefoot Power's outreach in emerging markets and its ability to provide affordable solar power solutions to poor populations.

More info on Barefoot Power is available at www.barefootpower.com.

Barefoot Power has been named a winner in the G-20 SME Finance Challenge competition!

The Regional Technical Support Facility, of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), has awarded a grant of € 1.000.000 to E+Co.

E+Co supports projects that provide access to reliable and affordable clean energy for local communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America. E+Co provides financing and advisory services to such clean energy enterprises. The grant to E+Co will co-finance the costs of establishing two clean energy investment facilities, which could later on be considered for investment by GEEREF; (i) a grant to the Africa Facility to invest in clean energy enterprises in Sub-Saharan Africa; and (ii) a grant to the Southeast Asia Clean Energy Facility which will focus primarily on investments in biomass and biogas projects in Southeast Asia.

More info about E+Co is available at www.eandco.net

The Regional Technical Support Facility, of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), has awarded a grant of € 120.000 to DI Frontier Market Energy and Carbon Fund (DI) for hiring a construction and O&M Manager.

DI is a private equity fund focusing on investments in infrastructure projects in Sub-Saharan Africa which invest in renewable energy and energy efficiency infrastructure projects, particularly on East African countries. The DI Frontier Fund is characterised by an investment strategy and approach that integrate project development, investment, and monetisation of carbon credits generated. One of its most important phases of the investments to be undertaken by the fund is the construction and O&M phases. The Regional Technical Support Facility will enable the fulfilment of the need for the employment of such a key person.

More info on DI is available at: http://www.frontier.dk/

The Regional Technical Support Facility, of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), has awarded a grant of €500.000 to the German Canopus Foundation to develop the “Solar for all” project.

Providing catalytic finance to solar enterprises throughout the supply chain

For small and medium enterprises working in the solar photovoltaic (PV) sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Latin America, access to equity is a crucial matter. Ashoka, a global network supporting social entrepreneurship, and Canopus Foundation, providing business development assistance in Africa, Asia and Latin America to solar companies for more than a decade, have founded an initiative called “Solar for All”. The Initiative supports the development phase of tailor-made social investment funds providing capital along the solar supply chain from production and distribution to consumer finance.

Bamboo Finance, one of the members of the Solar for All consortium, has been identified to set up is the Oasis Energy Fund -Solar for All, providing urgently needed capital for SMEs in the PV off-grid sector. For more information, please contact the fund manager directly read more 1

Furthermore, the Solar for All initiative plans to develop a global capacity building program − the Solar for All Support Facility − that provides tailored support for SMEs. The SfA Support Facility assists companies with a proven concept in reaching investment readiness. This can be tailored financial support as for example small scale investments or management support and professional training for employees. The SfA Support Facility will facilitate and develop distribution networks together with local solar entrepreneurs to support the market development, also providing a networking platform with workshops, conferences and other forms of support with solar industry partners and support organizations.

The program will be active across the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia and Latin America in partnership with key stakeholders in the field. For further information, please contact info@canopusfund.org

1 The "Oasis Energy Fund - Solar for All " is listed for informational purposes only. Canopus and Ashoka do not endorse, recommend or favor an investment in this fund, nor do they assume any liability for the use or disuse of any information given or not given from and by the fund listed or from and by any subsequent third party.

The Regional Technical Support Facility, of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), has awarded a grant of US$ 100.000 to IndiaCo Energy Efficiency Fund (IEEF) to (in part) cover the cost of the legal, tax, strategic and administrative setup of IEEF.

IndiaCo Energy Efficiency Fund (“IEEF”) is an Indian fund focusing on private equity investments by providing growth capital to energy efficiency related companies in India, mostly ESCOs. IEEF made a request for a grant from the Support Facility and UNEP SCAF (Seed Capital Action Facility) that will be used to launch the fundraising stage of IEEF. The grant will cover part of the costs of legal, tax, strategic and administrative set up of the fund. The grant support for IEEF would help the establishment and growth of a potential new GEEREF investment target. This investment target is particularly interesting for GEEREF as it is one of the first dedicated energy efficiency private equity funds established on the Indian market.

More info about IndiaCo is available at: www.indiaco.com

The Regional Technical Support Facility of the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF), supported by the European Union (EU), awarded a grant of US$100,000 to Low Carbon  Investors (LCI) to cover part of the legal, tax, strategic and administrative setup costs of LCA Asia.

LCA Asia (“LCA”) is a Singapore-based fund making private equity investments with a focus on small-scale renewable energy generation and resource efficiency projects, and where appropriate in the associated supply chain (low carbon technologies and project developers) in Southeast Asia. The fund will target three sectors; distributed energy generation, waste to energy and resource efficiency projects with a focus on Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.  LCI Singapore requested a grant from the Support Facility, UNEP SCAF and the Asian Development Bank to launch LCA Asia, to cover part of the legal, tax, strategic and administrative set up costs of the fund. The grant support for LCI Singapore has helped the establishment and growth of a potential new GEEREF investment target. This investment target is particularly interesting for GEEREF as it seeks to create a fully integrated value chain of renewable energy and resource efficiency projects in Asia.

More information about LCA Asia is available at: www.lcaasia.com