Rand Merchant Bank acquires 25% stake in electricity trading platform

Banking giant First Rand Merchant Bank has acquired a 25% stake in Remgro’s Ubiquity Energy platform.

Ubiqiuity is the holding company of Energy Exchange, which is an electricity trader licensed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa.

Media reports reveal that the value of the acquisition has not been disclosed but the deal was announced in a joint statement.

Mining Weekly reports that the transaction was supportive of investments in South Africa’s private power market and of unlocking South Africa’s renewable energy resources.

RMB infrastructure sector solutions transactor Sindisiwe Mosoeu said that Energy Exchange, as a large-scale purchaser of electricity, could connect corporates with privately produced renewable electricity to meet their decarbonisation goals.

BusinessTech Africa understands that through the platform, corporate buyers could secure a blend of energy sources such as wind, solar, biomass, and hydro rather than relying on a single source.

According to Remgro strategic investments executive Pieter Uys, he added that Energy Exchange offered the benefit of aggregation, allowing multiple customers to access scale benefits in procuring energy.

“In turn, large power generators are able to negotiate with a single centralised electricity buyer,” Uys said, adding that electricity tariffs charged by Energy Exchange were competitive and would escalate at the rate of inflation.

For RMB, principal investments transactor Philip de Villiers said the bank’s acquisition would support the generation and provision of sustainable privately produced power, which he described as “critical to solving our energy challenges”.

“The South African market requires a material shift in the way electricity is produced, sold, and consumed and will need bold thinking and innovative solutions,” De Villiers added per the website.