Evolution II Fund partners with Building Energy’s management in buy-out of its African business to launch Red Rocket – an African integrated IPP

Building Energy’s management, in partnership with Inspired Evolution’s Evolution II Fund, has successfully closed a buy-out of Building Energy’s Africa and Middle East business to launch the newly branded Red Rocket. The new joint venture will see the re-capitalisation and positioning of Red Rocket to become one of Africa’s leading emerging renewable energy independent power producers (IPPs).

Evolution II holds a majority shareholding in the reconfigured IPP platform and is advised by Inspired Evolution, an Africa-focused investment advisory firm that specializes in clean energy infrastructure and resource efficiency investments. The ground-breaking partnership brings together two seasoned professional teams with deep sector experience and proven renewable energy project development and auction conversion success to ramp up Red Rocket’s activities across Africa.

The buy-out deal leverages the resources of multiple Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and international investors together with local leading South African investment institutions active across Africa, secured via Inspired Evolution and Red Rocket’s existing relationships, to strengthen and forge stronger partnerships for its African expansion.

Red Rocket’s management skills set offers unique agility and differentiated bid strategies with best-in-class demonstrated renewable energy bid success and subsequent implementation of the projects. The team combines proven renewable energy technology selection with technical project development optimisation and innovation to offer full integration through its IPP platform solutions. The hands-on active value creation from Inspired Evolution complements Red Rocket’s capabilities to deliver on its African IPP expansion plans.

Red Rocket is an integrated renewable energy IPP that develops, designs, constructs, operates, and owns utility-scale grid-connected renewable energy projects (wind, solar, hydro and biomass) with operations in multiple countries across Africa. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Cape Town, the company now known as Red Rocket was originally set up as the Africa and Middle East business unit of Building Energy’s global operations. Its portfolio comprises 377 MW of projects in operation, under construction and awarded under public and private bids. The Group is also developing a portfolio in excess of 2 GW of additional best-in-class wind, solar, hydro and biomass projects to bid under future rounds of South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme (“REIPPPP”), and other procurement programmes across various African countries.

Matteo Brambilla, Chief Executive Officer of the Red Rocket Group, said: “We are pleased to be partnering with Inspired Evolution who bring sector expertise and proven project finance return performance to augment our efforts in building Red Rocket into one of Africa’s premier long-hold utility-scale IPP platforms offering least-cost clean and reliable energy to African customers. Our auction successes under the REIPPPP in South Africa and in select countries across Africa are testament to the innovation we continually apply to our renewable energy public and private bid strategies.”

Christopher Clarke, Managing Partner at Inspired Evolution, said: “Backing a commercially-astute professional team with demonstrated bid success to accelerate the deployment of utility-scale clean energy infrastructure in targeted countries across Africa, contributes to our mission. We share the vision with management for Red Rocket to continue to improve its competitiveness with agility and innovation to become a credible high-impact IPP platform of choice.