The $18.9 million guarantee issued by the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), a subsidiary of the World Bank Group, is intended to cover BTE Renewables’ equity investment in MBP, a 75 MWp solar photovoltaic power plant located near the small town of Prieska in South Africa’s Northern Cape province. Until recently, the solar plant was 60% owned by South African company Sonnedix Solar, which was bought out by independent power producer (IPP) BTE.
In operation since 2016, the MBP solar power plant was built under the third tender window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPP). The guarantee, which covers a period of 15 years, protects BTE Renewables against the risks of transfer restrictions, expropriation, war, civil unrest and breach of contract. MIGA is providing this guarantee as part of its efforts to promote the energy transition in South Africa.
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“With this guarantee, Miga is facilitating private investment that will contribute to the financial viability of the electricity sector and demonstrate the secondary market value of solar power plants in South Africa,” said Hiroshi Matano, Executive Vice President of MIGA. BTE, which benefits from this guarantee, is at the heart of another transaction that should concern all its assets on the African continent.
The company headed by Robert Skjodt has just been acquired by energy giant Engie and Meridiam, a French company specialising in the development, financing and management of public infrastructure projects. BTE Renewables was previously owned by the British investment company Actis.
Jean Marie Takouleu