By: Impact investor

Norfund has joined AIIM’s IDEAS Fund and the Mahlako Energy Fund to launch Anthem, a large-scale renewable energy platform which integrates several businesses and projects covering wind, solar PV and a hydroelectric plant.

Norwegian DFI Norfund has invested NOK850m (€73m) in the establishment of Anthem, a new renewable energy platform in South Africa. The investment includes NOK685m through the Climate Investment Fund – which Norfund manages on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs – and NOK170m through KNI, a joint investment company of Norfund and KLP, Norway’s largest public sector pension company.

Nofund’s investment is being made alongside the R2bn (€98.8m) Mahlako Energy Fund, the largest black women-owned and managed private equity fund in South Africa, which did not disclose the size of their investment.

Chanine Williams, senior investment manager at Norfund, who also manages the NOK5.6bn Climate Investment Fund, told Impact Investor that Anthem offers a unique chance to accelerate South Africa’s shift from coal to renewables at scale.

“The company combines strong local expertise, ambitious growth plans, and a proven track record. The investment aligns with our goals for climate impact, solid returns, and responsible, long-term ownership,” she said.

Integration of two companies

Anthem was established out of the African Infrastructure Investment Managers R30bn IDEAS Fund, South Africa’s largest infrastructure equity fund, which remains the platform’s majority shareholder. It is the result of the integration of two South African renewable energy companies, the African Clean Energy Developments (ACED), a development and delivery platform, and EIMS Africa, a clean energy project asset manager, and their portfolio of projects, which they have either developed or manage.

James Cumming, CEO of Anthem, explained: “The majority of the operational portfolio – the standalone wind and solar farms- was part of the AIIM IDEAS Fund as separate legal entities/investments. Anthem combines ACED, EIMS and the operational portfolio.”

James Cumming, Anthem

The platform will use the investment to continue to develop, finance, build, operate and manage renewable energy projects and supply energy to South Africa’s electricity public utility Eskom, to medium to large private power users, and to traders and aggregators.

“The investment will go towards growth in the Anthem portfolio, notably projects in construction and those soon to close as well as those that will be delivered in the future,” Cumming added.

Anthem said its creation comes at a critical time for Southern Africa, as countries in the region seek to accelerate their energy transition from coal to clean energy, while maintaining growth and employment and making a lasting and meaningful impact in local communities.

Williams agreed, explaining that South Africa currently relies on coal for over 80% of its power, so new renewables have huge climate and growth potential.

“The market offers large-scale solar and wind opportunities, but long-term, patient equity with an appetite for early-stage risk is still scarce. Successful projects can deliver major emissions cuts and reliable energy for development,” she said.

Project pipeline

Anthem currently has 24 wind and solar PV projects across five provinces in South Africa. These include 17 projects in operation generating 1.1GW of energy, four under construction totalling 445MW and three in financial close of 1.2GW. The company also has a 13.5MW hydroelectric plant located along the Lusutfu River in the Manzini region of Eswatini, formerly Swaziland, a soon-to-close solar PV project, also in Eswatini, and provides operations and maintenance services to nearly 500MW of its own PV projects.

Together, this represents over 2.7GW of secured power capacity and an estimated 15% market share in South Africa’s renewables independent power producers (IPP) market. In addition, Anthem controls an 11GW greenfield site pipeline across South Africa, with plans to further its expansion into Southern Africa, beyond Eswatini.

Social and environmental impact

Since 2014, the platform says its projects have offset over 11.3 million tonnes of CO₂ and invested more than R600m in socio-economic and enterprise development, supporting nearly 1,200 small and medium-sized businesses.

Cumming said that socio and socio-economic impact is very important to Anthem, both at the community and national scale.

“Anthem has a team of social performance practitioners active at our Cape Town headquarters and at each of our project sites to ensure the share of revenue that the company has committed to such development projects is invested sustainably, aligned to local and regional needs. Current focus areas are education and healthcare as well as enterprise development,” he added.

The platform currently generates over 2 400 GWh per annum with an additional 1350 GWh coming online in 2026.