Patrice Motsepe’s African Rainbow Energy seals R4 billion solar deal

African Rainbow Energy and independent power producer SOLA have reached a financial close on 200MW solar PV projects, worth R4 billion, for Tronox Mineral Sands. 
 
The company, owned by Patrice Motsepe announced the closing of the transaction on Monday calling it the largest corporate renewable energy power purchase agreement in Africa. 
 
The deal comes less than six months after the power purchase agreements were signed in mid-March and construction of the projects is set to get underway sooner than later. 
 
SOLA will provide engineering services on the project, while global construction company WBHO will build it. 
 
“We’re very pleased to be part of the first major utility energy project in SA for a private off-taker,” says Derek Wallace, managing director for projects at WBHO as per ITWeb. 
 
“We are looking forward to delivering a world-class project.” 
 
This initiative is being touted as a potential breakthrough for the private energy market and the parties to the deal say it has paved the way for more projects like it. 
 
On behalf of SOLA, CEO Dom Wills said the new facilities will supply electricity through wheeling arrangements with Eskom to five Tronox facilities in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal for their own use. 
 
“There are significant firsts here for the renewable energy industry,” says Wills. 
 
“These are the first projects of this scale in SA that are based on pure private bilateral trade. It’s also a great plus for the country that these projects are 100% South African-owned, financed,  
constructed, operated, and managed.” 
 
Furthermore, it has been announced that the development of renewable projects for private buyers are expected to increase on the back of the growing power crisis in SA. 
 
In a statement, SOLA and African Rainbow say the projects announced will fulfill the obligations of a bilateral electricity sales agreement between SOLA Group and KwaZulu-Natal-based mining company Tronox Mineral Sands. 
 
The project comprises 387 000 solar panels mounted on single-axis trackers that track the sun’s position as it moves across the sky. The facilities will also be “one of the first projects” to directly feed into Eskom’s high voltage transmission network. 
 
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