Several independent power producers (IPPs) have recently sold their solar and wind farms to Globeleq Africa, a company owned by CDC group, a development finance institution owned by the UK government and Norfund, its Norwegian counterpart. BioTherm Energy is selling its 11 MW Aries solar farm, located approximately 36 km southwest of Kenhardt, in the North Cape Province. BioTherm Energy also sold its 11 MW Konkoonsies solar power plant, built on 30 hectares near the town of Pofadder in the North Cape Province.
Globeleq also announced that it has completed the acquisition of the Soutpan solar park in Limpopo Province in northeast South Africa. With a capacity of 28 MW, it was previously owned by SunEdison, a company based in Missouri, USA. Globeleq now owns the 27 MW Klipheuwel-Dassiefontein wind farm, located 5 km west of Caledon in the Western Cape province. It belonged to Azari Group, an IPP based in Cape Town.
Globeleq is still in discussions with SunEdison to acquire an interest in the 60 MW Boshof solar park. All these projects are covered by a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with the South African public company Eskom. They were carried out within the framework of the South African Renewable Energy Supply Programme (REIPPP).
However, no information was provided on the total cost of acquiring all these solar and wind projects. However, the buyback operations are carried out with Standard Bank, a financial institution very involved in the electricity sector in South Africa. “The transaction is a new step in the growth of an African energy supplier (…) supported by a major African bank. Through our partnership with Globeleq, we are promoting growth on the continent by providing accessible and sustainable energy sources to the people of South Africa,” said Rentia van Tonder, Energy Manager at Standard Bank.
The acquisition of these new solar and wind farms strengthens Globeleq’s presence in the renewable energy sector on the African continent. The IPP has ongoing projects, notably in Kenya with the Malindi solar power plant in the south-east of the country. It will supply 60 MW of electricity to the national grid of this East African country.
Jean Marie Takouleu