Renewable energy innovator Swimsol receives USD 14 Million from responsAbility and OeEB
Zürich 29 November 2021 — responsAbility, the Swiss sustainable asset manager focusing exclusively on impact investing, and OeEB, the Development Bank of Austria, have concluded a syndication loan of USD 14 million for Swimsol, the pioneering Austrian renewable energy company which develops floating and rooftop solar assets in the Maldives and other island states. The proceeds from this debt financing facility are crucial to fund the expansion of Swimsol’s solar asset portfolio, while delivering high climate impact.
Where space and land are limited, Swimsol comes in. The Austrian renewable energy company provides affordable and durable solar power systems for the coastal tropics, having developed their own proprietary floating solar solution, called SolarSea. Launched in 2014, SolarSea is the world’s first commercial renewable solar energy product for the sea surface.
And as a global leader in offshore (marine) photovoltaics, Swimsol is currently the leading provider of floating and rooftop solar assets in the Maldives and an expert in island solar micro-grids. Delivering superior and much needed energy solutions has set the pioneering Austrian firm on a solid growth path.
To enable Swimsol’s growth, and more specifically, to expand its solar asset portfolio in the Maldives, OeEB (Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank) has partnered with responsAbility to conclude a syndication loan equalling USD 14 million. The loan provides crucial funding to grow Swimsol’s high-climate-impact renewable energy solutions in the archipelagic state located about 750km off the coast of India and Sri Lanka.
Swimsol provides solar energy via Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) in the Maldives mainly to companies active in the tourism sector, such as hotels and island resorts, in order to help the transition away from using diesel generators for electricity production, which is noisy and produces high CO2 emissions. Replacing diesel and adding solar and batteries to the power systems results in direct climate benefits by reducing CO2 emissions. In addition, the limited land space on the islands restricts the number of solar panels that can be installed on roofs. Seeing the huge potential to create impact, Swimsol created SolarSea, the commercial renewable energy product that creates space for solar panels on the sea surface – solar power beyond land limitations.
