Nedbank, Norfund acquire stake in South Africa’s Pele Energy
South Africa’s Nedbank Group Ltd. and Norwegian investment firm Norfund are acquiring a “substantial minority” stake in a renewable energy company co-founded by a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. banker.
The firms will invest $31-million in Pele Energy Group, said Chief Financial Officer Matt Wainwright. The investment is the second leg to a larger transaction where the company raised $135-million in a structured loan from Nedbank, Norfund and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corp., said Wainwright, without disclosing the exact size of the stake.
The transaction creates a platform for Pele to raise more funding, Wainwright said. “The company will target additional capital of two to three billion rand over the next two years.”
Pele — co-founded by Gqi Raoleka — and other clean power plant developers are capitalizing on a drive by energy-dependent companies in South Africa to become self-reliant. While the nation now has steady electricity supply, it endured frequent rolling blackouts until last year. Renewable power is also needed for the nation’s transition from a grid that relies on coal to generate more than 80% of its electricity.
South Africa will need at least 30 gigawatts of renewables to support the emerging needs of the grid, including battery energy storage projects, Wainwright said.
Pele and its partners won bids in December for six of eight selected projects in a government program to procure renewable energy.
The company expects the projects to close between September this year, and March 2026, said Wainwright.
“Given the scale of infrastructure and investment needed for renewable energy expansion, having strong financial partners helps accelerate project development while ensuring sustainable growth,” said Wainwright.
Comments
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
ISO-certified Condra manufactures overhead cranes, portal cranes, cantilever cranes and crane components: hoists, drives, end-carriages, brakes and...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
