Page 12 - AfrElec Week 40 2021

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SA energy minister again scoffs

at a decarbonised economy

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH African Mineral Resources and Energy economy, we don’t have alternative sources.”
Minister Gwede Mantashe has branded Eskom’s Mantashe was notably absent from last week’s
decarbonisation and emissions reduction plans Cabinet meeting with climate envoys. South
as dangerous. African Cabinet ministers said in talks with
He labelled a plan to decarbonise Eskom in international climate envoys this week that they
exchange for funding as a “dangerous step” at the were ready to shed their coal addiction.
Jo’burg Indaba conference, seemingly at odds In the same week Mantashe sang a different
with his president and nation’s Treasury, who song to that of his colleagues at a provincial min-
have been championing a switch to a greener ing investment conference in the country’s Lim-
economy for South Africa this year. popo Province. He was adamant that coal was
“My background is in the trade union move- not dead in South Africa.
ment. I’m suspicious of any programme that is The week before he labelled the move away
based on money, that will give you money. I don’t from coal as “economic suicide”.
like that,” Mantashe said. “When we talk of carbon capture, storage
“I want us to have a programme, and then and use, maybe it’s expensive,” Mantashe said.
we look for funding. If we get green funding, I “Renewable energy was expensive, we invested
support it. But we should not collapse our econ- and brought that into the economy and the price
omy because they are greedy for green funding. is coming down – we must be prepared to invest
I don’t believe in that, I think it is a dangerous in clean coal technology.”
step to take.” Mantashe hails from a mining union back-
Mantashe said South Africa must manage its ground, and the loss of jobs in South Africa’s
transition away from coal-fired power gener- mining sector would be first and foremost in his
ation systematically and not rush to renewable thoughts. Unemployment is soaring in South
energy sources. Africa, and the loss of jobs in the coal sector
“I am not saying coal forever, ... I am saying would be a further blow to the government’s
let’s manage our transition step by step rather plans to create jobs. ™
than being emotional. We are not a developed
NEoT Offgrid Africa, Winch Energy

invest $12mn in mini-grids

AFRICA NEOT Offgrid Africa (NOA) and Winch Energy The Dutch entrepreneurial development
have invested $12mn in mini-grid projects in bank FMO has arranged a syndicated facility
Uganda and Sierra Leone, in line with their aim through the through the Access to Energy Fund,
to build the largest portfolio of mini-grids in managed by FMO, and the Renewable Energy
sub-Saharan Africa, and reach a portfolio worth Performance Platform (REPP), managed by
$100mn. Camco Clean Energy.
Thanks to this project, 49 villages in the two Winch Energy CEO Nicholas Wrigley said
countries will be equipped in early 2022 with the debt financing represents a landmark for the
off-grid and remotely controllable solar solu- off-grid industry in Africa and Worldwide.
tions – remote power units (RPU) – that will “This first tranche represents the beginning
supply power to nearly 60,000 people, NOA and of our investment programme with our partner
Winch said in a press release. NOA, and additional investments will soon
NOA is an investment platform designed to follow in Sierra Leone and Uganda. We are also
support Africa’s energy transition by addressing targeting Nigeria and Ethiopia for 2022,” Wrig-
the issues of energy access founded and owned ley said.
by Meridiam (as majority shareholder), EDF FMO energy director Huub Cornelissen said
and Mitsubishi Corporation. closing the first mini-grid debt transaction rep-
Winch Energy IPP Holdings (WIPP), where resents a major milestone and the partnership
NOA is the main shareholder, is the new invest- “proves that mini-grids can be financed at scale
ment platform for the projects in Uganda and and efficiently by creating a cross-country port-
Sierra Leone. folio of assets”.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 07•October•2021