Renewable energy project development · Sub-Saharan Africa
From raw land to financial close.
Avuno Energy is a renewable energy project developer. We originate solar, wind and battery storage projects across Sub-Saharan Africa — mostly at the earliest stage — and develop them with our investment partners through to financial close.
- 55+years of combined sector experience
- 3 GW+of renewable energy transactions across the founders
- 15+countries worked across in Sub-Saharan Africa
- 3bases — Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban
Who we are
A project developer built by deal-makers.
Most renewable energy projects in the region stall long before construction — on land, grid, permitting or a financing case that doesn’t hold. We develop projects that don’t.
Our founders have taken solar, wind and storage projects to financial close for IPPs, lenders and development finance institutions across Sub-Saharan Africa. Now we originate and develop our own pipeline — choosing sites that hold up, developing them to the standard investors and lenders expect, and bringing in the partners who will fund and build them.
Technical depth. Financial discipline.
Engineering, development, commercial and finance — in-house.
Many developers buy in the engineering, the commercial structuring or the finance. We have all four disciplines at the same table from the first site visit — so our projects reach an investment committee technically sound, well contracted and financially robust.
Engineering
Resource, energy yield, PV, wind and battery design and grid access — so every project is technically sound before capital goes in.
Development
Site origination, land rights, permits and grid applications, and the offtaker and community relationships that turn a site into a project.
Commercial
Procurement and contracting strategy, RFP and tariff structuring, and the development and negotiation of project agreements — PPAs, EPC and O&M contracts and independent engineer agreements.
Finance
Financial modelling, financial structuring and capital raising to meet investors' and lenders' requirements — and negotiation support that optimises the financial value for early-stage developers.
Who we want to hear from
Investors first — and anyone with a site or an early-stage project.
We are looking for capital partners to develop our pipeline with, and for land and early-stage projects to add to it.
Investors and funders
Equity investors, development finance institutions, funds and strategic partners looking to place capital into renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa. We offer early access to projects we originate and develop ourselves — as a development-stage co-investor, or with a clear path to construction funding.
Talk to us about investingLand with development potential
Industrial, urban-edge, municipal or farm land close to grid capacity or to a large power user. We screen it, and if it works we develop a project on it with you.
Get in touchEarly-stage projects
Projects at concept, pre-feasibility or part-permitted stage that need a development partner — to reach bid-ready, to prepare for an exit, or to develop it further together with a lead investor.
Get in touchMunicipalities and utilities
Public entities that want new generation on their networks — through their own procurement programmes, on their own land, or by opening their networks to wheeling.
Get in touchPower users who need a solution
Commercial, industrial, mining and agricultural users weighing behind-the-meter, wheeled or offsite supply — and who want an independent view of the generators competing for their business, including their financial and technical offerings.
Get in touchSomething else in mind?
If it involves renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa and it is early, we would like to hear about it.
How we develop
A disciplined path from raw land to a bankable project.
Originate
We find the sites — GIS and environmental screening, resource quality, grid proximity, land claims and zoning — and secure the land.
Assess
Energy yield, concept design, grid options and an early financial model. A clear go / no-go before real money is spent.
Develop
Land rights, environmental authorisation, rezoning, water and grid applications, and the studies that make a project bankable.
Structure
Offtake and PPA terms, bid strategy, the financing plan and the investment partners who will fund construction.
Close
Financial close with our investors and lenders, and a clean handover into construction.
The founders
Three founders, one development team.
Two engineers and a project financier, each with close to two decades of taking energy projects to financial close.
Yusuf Coovadia
Technical & Project DevelopmentLeads origination, site identification and permitting — and the offtaker and partner relationships that carry a project to market.
Andrew Johnson
Technical & EngineeringLeads energy yield, PV, wind and storage design, grid and curtailment risk, and the technical pack that has to survive due diligence.
Johannes Horstmann
Project FinanceLeads project finance, financial modelling and capital raising — and the relationships with investors and lenders.
Looking to invest in renewable energy in Africa?
We are building a pipeline of early-stage solar, wind and storage projects across Sub-Saharan Africa, and are looking for investment partners to develop them with. Talk to the founders directly.