One of South Africa’s largest banks, Absa, is one of the few groups leading the development of the country’s renewable energy dreams. The bank reached a financial close last week on three new upcoming wind energy projects. Each is based in either the Western or Eastern Cape.
Absa going green(er)
The Western Cape will get two wind farms, each capable of producing 140MW, while another project is getting its life in the Eastern Cape, producing 84MW of green energy once complete. In total, Absa has spent R12 billion to get its three new renewable energy projects off the ground.
“The power generated by these three wind projects will be supplied to Eskom under 20-year power purchase agreements and, once operational, will have the capacity to supply approximately 480,000 South African households with power,” said Absa.
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These projects fall under Red Rocket Energy Ltd, a local group that owns, designs, develops, and constructs several renewable energy projects across Africa, of which Absa is the latest backer of the company’s efforts. Besides the bank’s three new wind farms, the group has other projects in the works, totalling 606MW of energy that’ll eventually feed back into the grid (theoretically easing load shedding). Red Rocket hopes to have a further 1GW in development by the end of the year.
Let ‘er REIPPP
Absa’s procurement of fresh and windy energy is part of its ongoing support to South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). “The REIPPPP is critical in helping Eskom add renewable power generation capacity to the national grid in line with the country’s just energy transition objectives and sustainable development goals,” said Absa.
The three projects will be built over the coming 24 months, adding a total of 364MW of energy to Eskom’s currently failing grid. As a bonus, a total of 1,800 jobs will be created throughout the course of the two years of construction needed to bring these projects to life.
Source: BusinessTech