Electricity trader Lyra Energy reports that it has entered into power purchase agreements with three private offtakers that will buy a large portion of the electricity to be produced from its 255 MW Thakadu solar PV project.

The Thakadu project is the first project to be implemented in South Africa by Lyra, which is a partnership between independent power producer Scatec, which owns 50% of the trading platform, as well as Standard Bank and Stanlib.

Lyra secured a trading licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) in 2025 and has a stated strategy of entering into contracts with medium-sized and large commercial and industrial customers that would otherwise not have the capacity to develop their own renewable projects.

The three commercial and industrial offtakers for the electricity produced at Thakadu have not been identified, but are described in a Scatec statement as being “top tier” commercial and industrial companies.

Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog said the offtake agreements represented a milestone for Lyra, and also demonstrated the growing appetite by South African businesses for reliable, cost-effective clean power.

Head of Lyra Eben de Vos added that by pooling resources and offering flexible, risk-managed contracts, the platform would empower businesses of all sizes to benefit from large-scale renewable energy.

The Thakadu solar PV project would be built in two phases, with financial close and construction of the first phase expected during the first quarter of 2026.

Scatec will provide engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC), asset management and operations and maintenance services for the project.

The capital expenditure, financing structure, and Scatec’s EPC scope would be outlined at financial close, the Oslo Stock Exchange-listed firm said in a statement.

The Lyra announcement came against the backdrop of public consultations by Nersa on draft trading rules for the South African electricity market, as well as legal action by Eskom to have the licences of some traders reviewed and set aside.

At recent public hearings, Eskom raised several objections to the draft rules, requested that they be re-workshopped and redrafted, and also explicitly stated that it reserved its rights to take the regulator’s decision on legal review.