South Africa’s renewable energy landscape received a significant boost this week as two major projects reached financial close.
Red Rocket, a prominent renewable energy independent power producer (IPP), has finalised funding for the first phase of the Overberg Wind Farm, set to become South Africa’s largest privately developed single wind farm.
Simultaneously, energy trader Etana Energy, in collaboration with developers Mulilo and H1 Holdings, secured financial backing for the 75-megawatt (MW) Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 project, marking a pioneering milestone in the nation’s utility-scale renewable energy market.
Overberg Wind Farm
The Overberg Wind Farm, located near Swellendam in the Western Cape, represents a flagship achievement for Red Rocket. With a total planned capacity of 380MW across two phases, the first phase will deliver 242MW, of which 230MW has been secured by Richards Bay Minerals (RBM), a subsidiary of the Rio Tinto Group, under a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
This phase alone will generate an estimated 750 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of clean electricity annually, slashing RBM’s greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 30% – equivalent to 0.7 million tonnes of CO2e
Featuring 39 Goldwind 6.2MW turbines, the project has been financed through a consortium including Absa Bank, Standard Bank, and the Development Bank of Southern Africa, with commercial operations slated for early 2027.
Matteo Brambilla, the CEO of Red Rocket, said, “We are proud to collaborate with Richards Bay Minerals on this landmark project. Overberg Wind Farm is a testament to what is possible when ambitious renewable energy targets meet the expertise and drive to bring them to life.”
RBM managing director Werner Duvenhage said, “This collaboration with Red Rocket on the Overberg Wind Farm aligns with our long-term sustainability goals and demonstrates our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.”
Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2
Meanwhile, in the Northern Cape, the Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 project reached financial close on March 17, unlocking 75MW of new solar capacity.
Etana Energy, an innovative trader supplying renewable electricity to large power users, serves as the offtaker, leveraging a R1 billion payment guarantee facility from Standard Bank and a preference share investment of up to R372 million from Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for developing countries, alongside Standard Bank. This follows a $100m (R1.8bn) guarantee facility secured last year from GuarantCo and British International Investment.
Located near De Aar, construction is set to begin in late April 2025. This is Etana’s first solar project as offtaker and the first to utilise the company’s guarantee facilities; with Etana having already contracted with a 5MW hydro facility (Boston Hydro), which is currently under construction with Growthpoint as the sole offtaker.
Jay Govender, the chief commercial and legal officer at Etana Energy, said,“Securing financial close on this project demonstrates the market’s confidence in Etana’s trading model – vetted and approved by blue-chip customers, independent power producers (IPPs), commercial lenders, and guarantors. Combined with strong financial backing, this has given us the platform to scale rapidly, bringing up to 700MW of wind and solar power into the system at a critical time for South Africa.”
Evan Rice, the CEO of Etana Energy, added, “Our ambition is to make a meaningful contribution to South Africa’s energy transition and energy security, unlocking investment in new renewable energy generation capacity.”
Sherrill Byrne, Executive Investment Banking at Standard Bank, said, “We are incredibly proud to be associated with the financing of both Etana as trader and Du Plessis Dam asgenerator and this encapsulates how we partner with our clients along the value chain.”
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