The Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), a multilateral development financial institution, Monday announced a $50 million credit facility for SirajPower, the UAE's leading distributed solar energy provider, to expand its portfolio of distributed solar energy projects across the Middle East. The transaction represents the largest lease-funding platform for distributed solar energy in the GCC. This is a continued realization of APICORP's vision and strategy to focus on renewables and support the region's transition towards a sustainable energy future, committing around $450 million of capital towards renewable projects in the past four years. The transaction will enable SirajPower to deploy its rooftop solar PV turnkey solutions across various industries, allowing the private sector to save on their utility bills while simultaneously offsetting their carbon footprint through an innovative structure to finance an entire portfolio of distributed solar projects on a long-term basis. Dr Ahmed Ali Attiga, CEO of APICORP said: "Through innovative financing solutions to our partners and direct investments, APICORP plays a vital role in bringing world-class energy technologies to the region. We have witnessed a strong appetite for solar projects as a sustainable source of renewable energy by both the government and private sector in the UAE and MENA region in general." "SirajPower's business model is promising of more innovations to come in the energy efficiency sector and we look forward to being part of its future success. As the trusted financial partner to the energy sector, the partnership with SirajPower demonstrates APICORP's commitment to being a leading catalyst for sustainable development in the region," Dr. Attiga added. Mohammed Abdulghaffar Hussain, chairman of SirajPower and Creek Capital, said: "We established SirajPower to act as a platform for renewable energy investments and provide stable and attractive long-term returns whilst simultaneously supporting the UAE and the wider region's sustainable development goals. "The market is full of potential, and we are gearing up to the next phase of a promising and rapid development across the wider Middle East region. Our partnership with APICORP is a testament not only to the bank's innovative approach to financing but also to their keen desire to play a key role in the region's burgeoning green economy." APICORP has increased its financing and equity investments in the renewables sector over the past few years. The company's first renewables financing deal came in 2017 where it provided a commitment of $110 million to Shuaa Energy II to build 800-megawatt solar PV's at Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai. This was followed by a strategic five-year Murabaha financing facility worth $75 million with Saudi Arabia-based Alfanar Company to support its renewable energy projects globally. More recently, APICORP provided a $40 million financing facility to Saudi Arabia's first independent sewage treatment plant (ISTP) to bring more cost-effective technologies to effectively recycle waste water. On the equity side, APICORP invested in UAE-based Yellow Door Energy (YDE) along with a consortium of international and regional banks to enable YDE to scale investments in solar energy and efficiency solutions in emerging markets and generate 300 megawatts of solar energy over the next two years. And in 2020, APICORP took a 20% equity stake in the Jordan Wind Project Company to support Jordan's demand for sustainable power by utilizing its substantial wind resources. According to APICORP's recently issued MENA Energy Investment Outlook 2020-2024, the MENA region will need to invest around $144 billion in the power sector to meet growing energy needs. Squire Patton Boggs (MEA) LLP acted as APICORP's legal advisor on this deal, kiloWattsol SAS acted as the technical advisor and INDECS Consulting Ltd. acted as the insurance advisor. Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) LLP acted as SirajPower's legal advisor. — SG
