SOUTH AFRICA: Globeleq refinances its Aries and Konkoonsies solar power plants
Independent power producer (IPP) Globeleq has announced a $37 million senior debt restructuring of its Aries and Konkoonsies solar photovoltaic power plants in South Africa. These facilities have been in operation since 2014.
Globeleq refinances two of its solar photovoltaic plants in South Africa. These are the Aries and Konkoonsies farms in the Northern Cape province. The debt of these solar power plants, which Globeleq will take over in 2019, has been restructured to the tune of $37 million by Standard Bank. According to independent power producer (IPP) Globeleq, the purchase of the senior debt of these two facilities “enables a significant reduction in the wholesale prices of electricity generated by the plants”.
According to the London, UK-based IPP, the deal “creates a more efficient capital structure, freeing up funds for shareholders to reinvest in the power sector and accelerating capital distributions to the communities of Aries and Konkoonsies and the shareholders of both plants”. This transaction comes a few years after the refinancing of its De Aar and Droogfontein solar power plants in August 2021.
The Aries and Konkoonsies solar power plants each have a capacity of 11 MWp. Connected to the state-owned Eskom grid, each park is capable of generating 22,000 MWh of electricity per year, enough to power at least 4,900 average South African households. They are among the first concessions granted by the South African government under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP).
“We have reduced the cost of electricity at these two plants by around 129 million South African Rand ($6.7 million) over the remaining ten years of the power purchase agreement. Overall, Globeleq has now restructured six of its eight plants in South Africa using the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s IPP Office refinancing protocol,” explains Globeleq CEO Mike Scholey. IPP currently has an installed capacity of 384 MW in South Africa.
Cover photo: By AFRIK21
