MOU for the first blind fund for factory roof installed solar panels in Korea (23rd April 2021)
The SVS Foundation signed an MOU on setting up a blind fund to finance SMEs to be benefited from solar power. The fund is the first of its kind in Korea where innovative financial products will help SMEs to install solar panels on their idle factory roofs to generate sustainable solar energy that can be used to power factories. SMEs’ relatively low credits and lack of access to conventional finance, has hindered its proactive adoption of the initiative, yet the new blind fund will pave a way for SMEs in Korea to involve in more sustainable energy generation/consumption. Through active investments, the fund expects to provide 42MW throughout Korea in a year. The blind fund was joined by various stakeholders and major financial institutions in Korea.
:: Related SVS portfolio
The solar photovoltaic project on the factory roofs of SMEs
SVS supports new and renewable energy projects based on social finance in order to accelerate the transition to a green economy, such as an ecofriendly and low-carbon economy, and to contribute to the disseminatio of Korea’s Green New Deal policies. SVS has established an investment corporation in conjunction with the private innovative company, Solar Equity, and impact investors D3 Jubilee Partners and ARK Impact Asset Management (September 2020), to promote the solar photovoltaics project on factory roofs of SMEs. As of the end of 2020, the installation of solar power plants able to generate 3.5MW of electricity has been achieved in Seongju and Daegu in the Gyeongbuk region.
Impact
SVS connects local SEOs, such as energy cooperatives, to encourage the social economy to become the main driver of the Green New Deal, and contributes to sustainable energy transition and to job creation. In addition, SVS takes the lead in the nation-wide dissemination of the new and renewable energy production model that utilizes the factory roofs of SMEs, which have the advantage of large scale readily available sites for which obtaining licensing and grid- connection are easily achieved.
SVS has presented a new model for providing social finance, in which private innovative corporations and impact investors collaborate to establish a joint investment corporation, and has provided patient capital as a strategic investor where projects led by the private sector are responding to the climate crisis.
Type : Investment
Term : 21 years (September 2020-September 2041)
SVS commitment : KRW 490 million
Total commitment : KRW 3.06 billion
Intermediary : D3 Jubilee Partners, ARK Impact Asset Management