Electricity and Control October 2022

ENERGY MANAGEMENT + THE INDUSTRIAL ENVIRONMENT : PRODUCTS + SERVICES

Financial close on 200 MW solar PV

plus for the country that these projects are 100% South African owned, financed, constructed, operated and managed.” Renewable projects are capital intensive and long term. This project needed to raise a total of R4 billion in funding for construction and development of the two PV facilities. For this to happen, SOLA reached agreement with funding partner and shareholder, African Rainbow Energy. “African Rainbow Energy is a leading renewable energy platform, the largest shareholder in the SOLA Group and the funder of the two projects,’’ says Brian Dames, CEO, African Rainbow Energy. “This is a clear demonstration of African Rainbow Energy’s and partners’ – Absa, DBSA, Nedbank and Standard Bank – commitment to our country, the economy, and our customers. This investment brings hope.” The debt arrangement was led by PepperTree Capital, and senior lenders included three of the big banks in South Africa and the DBSA, which provided a total of R3.1 billion of debt to the project. The legal advisors on the transaction were Pinsent Masons, Hogan Lovells, Faskens, Allen & Overy and ENS. SOLA also entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with WBHO, for the design and construction of the project, where SOLA performs the engineering services and WBHO will perform the construction. The project will include the installation of 387 000 solar panels mounted on single axis trackers that track the sun’s position as it moves across the sky. It will be one of the first projects to feed directly into Eskom’s high voltage transmission network. “We are very pleased to be part of the first major utility scale energy project in South Africa for a private off taker,” says Derek Wallace, Managing Director, Projects, at WBHO. “We look forward to delivering a world class project.” This project is seen as a potential breakthrough for the

After the landmark legislation was passed in August 2021 to raise the licensing limit on independent power plants from 1 to 100 MW, the first two registered 100 MW renewable energy projects have reached financial close. This is less than six months after the power purchase agreement was signed in mid-March 2022. Construction of the projects will now begin. The solar photovoltaic plants will be constructed in line with the bilateral electricity sales agreement between SOLA Group and Tronox Mineral Sands. The plants will supply electricity, through wheeling arrangements with Eskom, to five Tronox facilities in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal for their own use. Tronox’s operations are highly energy intensive, and the renewable energy project will ensure Tronox’s economic viability and long term affordability of electricity supply. Melissa Zona, Tronox Holdings plc’s Senior Vice President, Chief Human Resources and Sustainability Officer said, “This renewable energy project with SOLA Group will reduce our global carbon emissions by about 13% compared to our 2019 baseline. It is another example of Tronox’s commitment to being a leader in terms of corporate sustainability and protection of the environment. Switching from coal-based to renewable power in South Africa is one of the many ways Tronox is implementing technology and best practices at its sites to protect land, water, air and ecosystems and operate more sustainably,” she said. Tronox and SOLA signed a power purchase agreement in March 2022. SOLA’s in-house engineering, finance and project development capabilities have helped to accelerate the conclusion of the deal. Dom Wills, CEO of the SOLA Group notes, “There are significant firsts here for the renewable energy industry. These are the first projects of this scale in SA that are based on pure private bilateral trade. It’s also a great

private energy market and has paved the way for more projects like it. The options for developing projects for private buyers will only increase as government finalises its plans to establish a trading market on the national grid. “Looking ahead, we hope the model of supplying private power through bilateral agreements continues to be more widely adopted,” says Wills. “The benefits for the end user are competition, choice and a more diverse contribution to the power system.” The SOLA Group is a vertically inte grated independent power producer and a leader in the supply of clean energy solutions to private companies in Africa.

For more information visit: https://solagroup.co.za

Both the new 100 MW solar PV plants will be 100% South African owned, financed, constructed, operated and managed.

16 Electricity + Control OCTOBER 2022