A 75 MW solar PV project being developed near De Aar in the Northern Cape to supply an energy aggregator has advanced to financial close.

The Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 facility is being built by independent power producer (IPP) Mulilo in partnership with H1 Capital to supply about 248 GWh yearly to energy trader Etana Energy.

Etana Energy is one of several energy traders to have been licensed by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa in recent years and it sells renewable electricity sourced from multiple IPPs and wheeled through the national grid to multiple clients.

Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 is Etana’s first solar project as offtaker, with the company having previously also contracted with a 5 MW hydro facility known as Boston Hydro, where Growthpoint will be the sole offtaker once the facility is constructed.

The solar project is also the first to utilise the company’s guarantee facilities, with a R1-billion payment guarantee facility having been secured with Standard Bank, and a preference share investment of up to R372-million from Norfund and Standard Bank. This follows the signing last year of a R1.8-billion guarantee facility agreement with GuarantCo and British International Investment.

Etana Energy CEO Evan Rice said the financial backing, together with its secured portfolio of grid-connectable renewables projects with leading IPP partners, had positioned the company well to accelerate the next wave of growth.

Securing financial close also demonstrated the market’s confidence in Etana's trading model, the company added, while reporting that it had contracted with over 20 customers for an initial 280 MW, to be sourced from the hydro and solar PV projects, as well as two other wind projects.

“This is more than just another solar project; it represents a new era of energy trading and innovation in South Africa,” Mulilo CEO Jan Fourie said in a statement.

“By leveraging an aggregator model, we are pioneering a more dynamic and efficient energy market that will ultimately benefit businesses and consumers alike.”

The facility will be one of four Mulilo plants connected to the Kestrel Main Transmission Substation, which was developed by the IPP to unlock grid capacity in the key solar resource region.

Over the past year, Mulilo has closed 660 MW of new renewable-energy projects, adding to its existing operational portfolio of 420 MW.

“These achievements are the result of strong collaboration across financial, legal, and strategic advisory teams, including Pepper Tree Capital, Bowmans, ENS, and Standard Bank as mandated lead arranger, ensuring that complex transactions such as this one are successfully structured and executed,” Fourie said.