Etana Energy reaches financial close on first solar project under GuarantCo enabled framework agreement

  • Date written
  • March, 2025

Etana Energy, the South African energy company, has reached financial close on its first solar project soon after the groundbreaking framework to enable such deals was put in place in December 2024. The broader framework agreement was secured through a $100 million payment default guarantee provided by GuarantCo, part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), and British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor.

Etana Energy reaches financial close on first solar project under GuarantCo enabled framework agreement

The Du Plessis Dam Solar PV2 project, located just outside De Aar in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, is being financed by Standard Bank and will unlock 75MWac of new renewable energy capacity for large power users. It is being co-developed by Mulilo and H1 Holdings, two leading players in South Africa’s renewable energy sector, and reached financial close with Etana as the offtaker. Construction on the project will begin at the end of April 2025.

This deal was enabled by the GuarantCo/BII guarantee framework, which is designed to unlock new renewable energy capacity by providing independent power producers (IPPs) with the revenue certainty they need to break ground on new renewable energy projects.

This first investment and guarantee financing enables Etana’s business model and paves the way for large-scale, multibillion-rand renewable electricity projects that are now advancing to construction.

Surabhi Mathur Visser, Deputy CEO and Chief Investment Officer at GuarantCo, said:

“We congratulate Etana Energy on this major milestone of the first deal close under the guarantee framework so soon after it was agreed. This is testimony to the strength of Etana’s energy aggregator model and demonstrates increasing market confidence in South Africa’s renewable sector.

“From an investment point of view, our work with Etana Energy provides strong replication opportunities by proving to the market that a guarantee framework can work at scale. GuarantCo continues to seek out potential market transformation transactions like this in lower-income communities to deliver against the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in alignment with the PIDG 2030 strategy.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

About GuarantCo

GuarantCo mobilises private sector local currency investment for infrastructure projects and supports the development of financial markets in lower income countries across Africa and Asia. GuarantCo is part of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) and is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia and Sweden, through the PIDG Trust, the Netherlands, through FMO and the PIDG Trust, France through a stand-by facility and Global Affairs Canada through a repayable facility. GuarantCo is rated AA- by Fitch and A1 by Moody’s. Since 2005, GuarantCo has enabled USD 6.8 billion of total investment and USD 5.7 billion of private sector investment, giving 44.7 million people access to infrastructure and creating around 243,000 jobs. GuarantCo’s activities are managed by GuarantCo Management Company which is part of Cardano Development
To find out more visit: www.guarantco.com

About PIDG

The Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) is an innovative infrastructure project developer and investor which mobilises private investment in sustainable and inclusive infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa and south and south-east Asia. PIDG investments promote socio-economic development within a just transition to net zero emissions, combat poverty and contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). PIDG delivers its ambition in line with its values of pioneering, partnership, safety, inclusivity and urgency.

PIDG offers Technical Assistance for upstream, early-stage activities and concessional capital; its project development arm – InfraCo – invests in early-stage project development and project and corporate equity. PIDG credit solutions include EAAIF (the Emerging Africa and Asia Infrastructure Fund), one of the first and most successful blended debt fund in low-income markets; GuarantCo, its guarantee arm that provides credit enhancement and local currency solutions to de-risk projects; and a growing portfolio of local credit enhancement facilities, which unlocks domestic institutional capital for infrastructure financing.

Since 2002, PIDG has supported 233 infrastructure projects to financial close, which provided an estimated 228 million people with access to new or improved infrastructure. PIDG is funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Australia, Sweden, Global Affairs Canada, Germany, and the IFC. pidg.org

About Etana Energy

Etana Energy is a majority black-owned, licensed electricity trader that supplies electricity generated by renewable energy projects to businesses in South Africa, using the national electricity grid. Etana’s customers benefit from certified low-carbon electricity at tariffs competitive with Eskom or municipal supply, forward price certainty, flexible contracting terms and qualifying B-BEEE expenditure. Etana’s founding shareholders are H1 Holdings, a black-owned investment company and Chariot Limited, a British group focused on developing transitional energy projects in Africa, listed on the London Stock Exchange. Etana has offices in Cape Town, Gqeberha and Johannesburg. For more information, visit  https://etana.energy/