Page 9 - AfrElec Week 06 2023

AfrElec INVESTMENT AfrElec

CFM invests $38.5mn in waste-to-energy

plant in Gauteng, South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA NETHERLANDS-BASED Climate Fund Man- the plant will avoid emissions of 48,000 tonnes
agers (CFM) is investing $38.5mn in a waste- of CO2 equivalent per year, which compares to
to-energy project in Bronkhorstspruit, South about 120mn kilometres driven by a passenger
Africa. car, says Bio2Watt Energy.
The climate investment fund manager wants In South Africa, at least 3.67mn tonnes of
to develop a 9.8 MW installed power capac- waste are not handled by the management sys-
ity from organic waste, online green economy tem established by the authorities. Organic waste
media outlet Afrik21 says. decomposes, emitting greenhouse gases (GHG),
The Bronkhorstspruit biogas plant (BBP) including methane. The waste also produces lea-
project is carried out by Bio2Watt Energy, a chate, a concentrated liquid that pollutes soil and
South African renewable energy company. With groundwater.
the latest investment through its Climate Inves- Bio2Watt is currently building another bio-
tor One and Climate Investor Two funds, CFM gas-fired plant at Morester’s Vyvlei dairy farm,
aims to increase the capacity of the future BBP which supplies milk to South Africa’s Clover
from 4.8 MW to 9.8 MW. Food group. The plant will handle the waste
“The $38.5mn commitment frowm Climate produced by 7,000 cows. The cow manure will
Investor One and Climate Investor Two for be mixed with other organic waste collected
the BBP plant follows an initial investment of in the Malmesbury municipality to produce
$9.77mn in development financing, allowing biogas.
Bio2Watt Energy to consolidate its project pipe- Malmesbury biogas plant will supply 4.8MW
line into a $227mn investment opportunity,” of electricity to the facilities of South African
CFM says. Breweries (SAB) near Cape Town. The waste-
The plant will produce biogas from the fer- to-energy company claims a project portfolio of
mentation of at least 240,000 tonnes of organic 330GWh per year in South Africa and Mozam-
waste collected in the Gauteng province. The bique, according to Afrik21.
heat produced by the combustion of the biogas “The opportunities with biogas go far beyond
will be used to generate electricity. Bio2Watt will energy, it offers much-needed employment
supply the Rosslyn plant of the German car man- and leaves a cleaner environment,” says Sean
ufacturer BMW in Tshwane, Gauteng. Thomas, chief executive officer of Bio2Watt
As well as diverting some waste from landfills, Energy.™

Oikocredit, Yellow put $5mn in solar

development in Sub-Saharan Africa

AFRICA OIKOCREDIT, a social impact investor and says it has improved the lives of more than
worldwide co-operative has partnered with an 1.5mn low-income people with clean energy
African fintech start-up Yellow, a distributor access.
of pay-as-you-go solar home systems, to invest Yellow is one of the fastest-growing com-
$5mn in the solar energy development in Africa. panies in the renewable energy sector. It antic-
The investment will allow Malawi-head- ipates that its partnership with Oikocredit will
quartered Yellow to provide access to low-in- drive more social impact by helping low-income
come families in countries like Rwanda, Malawi, communities in Africa and improving their liv-
Uganda, and Zambia to clean energy and off- ing standards.
grid solar products. Around 89,000 households “We are delighted to be partnering with
will benefit from this partnership in Sub-Saha- Oikocredit on this transformational facility,”
ran Africa, Yellow said. said Michael Heyink, Yellow’s founder and CEO.
The company’s purpose is “to make life bet- “This loan will enable us to access local currency
ter for everyday African households” using funding in multiple jurisdictions, providing our
technology. Yellow has sold more than 300,000 business with greater scope to serve more cus-
energy devices since its launch in 2018, and tomers and better.”™

Week 06 08•February•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P9