Synergy Private Equity Fund (SPEF) has invested in Viathan Engineering, a developer of captive and embedded power solutions in Nigeria.

Akintoye Akindele, Partner at Synergy Capital Managers, said the investment in Viathan is underpinned by several key elements, including the provision of power as a service to underserved government, commercial and industrial offtakers in an environmentally sustainable manner, using natural gas as fuel.

"The partnership with Green Power International Pvt, an O&M operator with deep experience and proven capacity to deliver scalable and modular power solutions in emerging markets gives the Manager the platform to expand strategically across Nigeria; and lastly the opportunity to build Viathan into a world class provider of embedded power solutions with sound operational expertise and local capacity in a sector in dire need of transformation in Nigeria," he said.

"With Viathan, Synergy is well positioned to achieve solid returns while making a meaningful impact to Nigeria’s economy,” he added.

The investment by SPEF and its co-investors will enable Viathan re-structure its balance sheet and provide capital to scale up its generation and distribution capabilities in the embedded and captive power space.

Over the medium term, SPEF will work with the management and board of Viathan to execute its vision to become the leading provider of embedded/captive power services in Nigeria with a target capacity of 200MW over the next five years.

Viathan’s current portfolio includes the PIPP LVI Genco, a 19.5MW capacity gas fired power plant located in Lekki Phase 1, which currently supplies power to most of the public utilities in the Lekki area and broadly across most of Victoria Island and Ikoyi.

Viathan has a fully built distribution ring across the most attractive area of Lagos covering Lekki, Victoria Island and Ikoyi to power key government infrastructure and also potentially serve commercial off-takers through its distribution ring.

Over the next year, with the investment by SPEF and its co-investors, the company will build a portfolio of power assets in strategic markets through acquisitions and development.

Work on many of the new assets is well advanced and the additional capital from SPEF and its co-investors will enable the company speedily complete the most advanced ones.

Faruk Agoro, promoter and Director of Viathan, said: “This investment by SPEF and our partnership with the Fund Manager provides Viathan Engineering with the resources to accelerate its innovative and scalable platform to deliver power as a service to public/government facilities, industrial clusters and commercial establishments in Lagos State initially, in an efficient, cost–effective and environmentally sustainable manner."

"We look forward to working with the Synergy team to build Viathan into ä world class-company in this space and to establish it as a major player in the power sector across Nigeria,” he said.