Innova Capital Partners and FCP Innovación Join to Invest in Solar EPC Firm in Colombia
Innova Capital Partners, LLC (Innova) and Fondo de Capital Privado de Emprendimiento e Innovación SP (FCP) have announced a concurrent investment into ERCO Energía SAS (ERCO), an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm specialized in photovoltaic projects in Colombia. The joint investment will provide capitalization for the construction of ERCO solar projects in the region.
Colombia boasts exceptional non-conventional energy resource potential like solar, wind and biomass. In fact, solar is among Colombia’s most abundant resources given its proximity to the equatorial zone, yet solar wide spread solar installation in the Commercial & Industrial sector is still in its infancy stage.
Solar EPC firms such as ERCO are set to capitalize on the Law 1715, which was officially enacted in 2016 to establish the legal framework and instruments to actively promote and integrate other non-hydro renewables (NCRE) into the national energy system. Law 1715 outlines the incentives that make non-hydro renewables economically feasible.
“We have built our platform by finding talented industry focused teams such as ERCO, and we are pleased to join with FCP to help us achieve our plans to expand renewable energy throughout the region,” said Mukesh Prasad, Managing Partner of Innova. Patricia Rodriguez, Innova’s head of Latin American Development added, “We believe our investment in ERCO underscores the opportunity and need for Colombia to diversify its energy matrix, which is currently 70% hydropower, into renewable energy such as solar”
“Our Fund and its LP have been looking for EPC assets in Colombia and the region. While regulation is just being put in place, the Distributed Generation opportunity had been already taking shape, and new regulations only make the opportunity more robust. Since FCP discovered ERCO, we were impressed by the vision of its Founders and excited by the strategic fit of ERCO with our portfolio strategy” said Felipe Zarate, General Manager and Key Person of FCP.
“We believe that Innova’s international experience and FCP’s strategic business vision will allow us to expand our operation, increase our market share and continue to strengthen our position as one of the most important solar energy companies in Colombia. We are pleased to have found allies that are fully aligned with our growth prospects and our vision of solar business in the region.” said Juan Camilo López and Juan Esteban Hincapié, Co-Founders of ERCO.