Pele Energy Group is proud to announce the appointment of Brenda Martin as the new Board Chairperson. With a distinguished career spanning policy advocacy, strategic advisory, and leadership in South Africa’s energy transition, Brenda brings a wealth of expertise and deep commitment to advancing sustainable development.

Brenda has been at the forefront of South Africa’s policy-driven Just Transition since 2007, playing a pivotal role in facilitating public, private, and civil society engagement in both distributed and utility-scale power supply policy, planning and advocacy. Since 2014, she has worked as an Independent Advisor on the national energy transition, specialising in political and market analysis, with a strong focus on gender and broad-based inclusion.

Between 2016 and 2019, Brenda served as CEO of the South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA), where she successfully led an industry-wide campaign to restart South Africa’s renewable energy procurement programme after a prolonged impasse. In 2019, she also pioneered the first stakeholder map of South Africa’s energy transition, a resource she continues to update annually.

Her academic credentials include an MPhil in Energy & Development from the University of Cape Town, where her research explored the sector coalitions that shaped South Africa’s first Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) process. She also holds an undergraduate Business degree and has completed further studies at Wits University, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and Harvard Business School.

On her appointment, Brenda Martin said, "Achieving just and fruitful outcomes in South Africa's energy transition requires determined vision, strong leadership and effective partnerships. The Pele Energy Group has a strong track record in all these areas. I am delighted and honoured to serve as Chair and look forward to joining forces with this thriving group of young power pioneers."

“As Pele Energy Group continues to illuminate the way forward in Africa’s energy and development landscape, Brenda’s leadership will be instrumental in strengthening our strategic direction and expanding our impact” – Gqi Raoleka, Chief Executive Officer.

Please join us in warmly welcoming Brenda Martin to the Pele Energy Group.

About Pele Energy Group:

Founded in 2009, Pele Energy Group is dedicated to driving structural change by harnessing the power of innovative renewable energy projects and knowledge-based initiatives. Through Pele Green Energy (PGE), which is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) and Knowledge Pele (KP), which performs research-led developments, we not only provide utility-scale renewable energy but crucially we reindustrialise and develop local communities and the environments in which our power plants are located. PGE stands as the largest South African and one of the largest African-owned IPPs with a portfolio of 3.5GW. Through KP we have impacted over 10 000 lives across South Africa by linking energy infrastructure with education, skills development and community investments. Together PGE and KP form a strategic ecosystem where each entity enhances and reinforces the other’s value- demonstrating that generating power and building knowledge are inseparable components in driving comprehensive structural change and fostering long-term socio-economic progress.

For more details, please visit: https://www.peleenergygroup.com/