Engie and Meridiam jointly acquire BTE Renewables from Actis

French energy conglomerate Engie, and French investment firm Meridiam, have jointly acquired 100% of Actis’ shareholding in Africa-focused renewable energy developer, BTE Renewables. Engie will acquire the South African portfolio and team while Meridiam will acquire the Kenyan portfolio and team, according to a statement by Actis.

BTE is the second largest diversified regional renewable independent power producer in Africa. The Pan-African renewable energy company was established by Actis in 2017, with the acquisition of the Kipeto wind project in Kenya in the development stage. 

According to Actis, it grew the company in 2019 after acquiring South Africa-focused developer BioTherm Energy, and subsequently rebranded the company to BTE Renewables (BTE).

“The sale of BTE Renewables marks our fifth energy platform exit in Africa, where we have now built and owned 5GW of generation capacity, making Actis one of the largest investors in the regional energy sector,” said Lisa Pinsley, Partner in the Energy Infrastructure team and Head of Middle East & Africa Energy at Actis.

“When we established BTE, our intention was to help meet the growing demand for electricity in Africa. Through our investment and our experience in doing this globally, we have grown and developed a leading power company, with an outstanding team based on the continent and a promising pipeline of projects,” added Pinsley.

BTE Renewables currently has six operating projects totalling c500MW in generating capacity, five projects in South Africa and one in Kenya. BTE Renewables revealed that it has a proprietary pipeline of projects under development exceeding 5GW across the continent.

“We leave BTE a sustainability leader as both its biodiversity initiatives and community engagement have led to real benefits to all living and working around the project sites, embodying our values drives value approach. We are confident that BTE, with its new shareholders, will continue to play a leading role in the energy transition across Africa,” concluded Pinsley.