Juwi wins South African solar contracts worth 250MW

German renewable energy company, juwi Renewable Energies, has won three contracts with a combined value of $200mn (ZAR3bn) for solar energy in South Africa.

The contracts include EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) and O&M (operation and maintenance), and have been concluded with African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) which is Africa’s biggest infrastructure private equity fund manager and part of Old Mutual Alternative Investments.

The three solar projects are the 86MW Waterloo Solar Park and the 78MW Bokamoso Solar Park, both located in North West Province, along with the 86MW Droogfontein 2 Solar Park, located in Northern Cape. Altogether, the parks are set to deliver 250MW of solar PV energy to the South African power grid.

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AIIM’s IDEAS Managed Fund is to be the majority shareholder with a 50.01% stake in the projects. The fund is South Africa’s biggest for domestic infrastructure equity, with $890,000 (ZAR13.2mn) assets under management.

The projects were signed by juwi as part of the REIPPPP Programme, and debt funding was provided by ABSA and Nedbank.

Juwi’s Managing Director, Greg Austin, said: “We are delighted to have closed the EPC and O&M contracts and the associated agreements with AIIM, together with their equity and debt partners. For juwi, this represents a major milestone as the addition of this 250MW triples our existing portfolio of solar PV projects constructed and operated in South Africa.”

Juwi has also outlined some key economic benefits of the new solar facility investments, such as 100% South African ownership, 50% direct black ownership with an additional 15% indirect black ownership, and 40% black participation in EPC contracts.

Austin commented: “The RE sector brings real socio-economic benefits to South Africa, offering significant job creation, and infrastructural development to facilitate economic growth and attract investment to the region.”