GE Current, a Daintree company, has announced a partnership with Aquila Capital to provide financing solutions to growers looking to install low-energy LED lighting through funds managed or advised by Aquila Capital
The partnership will enable growers across Europe to design new indoor farming facilities or upgrade existing installations to the latest lighting technology to deploy the current range of Arize horticultural LED solutions more quickly and without any upfront capital expenditure.
Projects financed through the new partnership have the potential to achieve CO2 savings of 30-40% compared to existing installations, with repayment calculations based on the proportion of future energy costs. By removing financial barriers to the latest generation of horticultural lighting and by supporting growers through every step of their journey to LEDs, Current aims to help optimise the quality and volume of yield while significantly reducing the environmental impact of indoor farming.
“The horticulture industry is well aware of its environmental responsibilities and the sustainability targets being handed down across all sectors,” commented James Fleet, commercial general manager, EU, ME & ANZ at Current. “Aquila Capital’s energy efficiency team is the ideal partner as it has already helped a number of European greenhouse operators to implement energy-efficient biomass technology at scale. The team understands the needs of European growers and can build bespoke, flexible financing solutions rapidly, allowing them to reap the financial and environmental benefits of deploying our Arize LED solutions immediately and with minimal risk.”
Bruno Derungs, senior investment manager with Aquila Capital’s energy efficiency team, said, “Our investment strategy is specialised on financing small-to-medium size energy efficiency projects for industrial or commercial companies, and implementing these projects in partnerships with experienced project developers. With Current, we have an excellent multinational technology provider as a strong partner. Our financing offering will further reduce the barriers for operators to run their greenhouses on the most innovative and energy efficient technology.”
