Page 14 - AfrElec Week 22 2022

AfrElec STORAGE AfrElec

Kibo seals energy storage

deal in South Africa

SOUTH AFRICA LONDON- and Johannesburg-listed renew- both countries, a presence in the reserve power
ables developer Kibo Energy has sealed an market in Britain and is championing LDES
exclusive agreement with Hasta Trust of South projects in southern Africa. A bid to enter the
Africa to jointly assess and develop a portfolio of Zimbabwean market through an acquisition of
long-duration energy storage (LDES) projects in a 100MW solar project in Victoria Falls, west
that country. of the country, failed after Kibo and the project
The LDES projects are held by the National owner, Broomfield, disagreed on some issues,
Broadband Solutions (NBS), for now 100% Kibo said on May 27.
owned by Hasta, Kibo said announced on Mon- Kibo chief executive Louis Coetzee said the
day (May 30), adding that it will acquire 51% in agreement with Hasta Trust will assist businesses
NBS’s project portfolio. whose operations are being hampered by erratic
The deal, Kibo said, is a major step forward in electricity supplies in Africa’s most advanced
its strategy to integrate LDES into its commercial economy.
project pipeline. It follows closing a framework “We believe that CellCube’s approach to
agreement with CellCube to develop and deploy LDES uses the technology most likely to domi-
CellCube based LDES solutions in Southern nate the renewable energy electricity generation
Africa. sector, for the purposes of a utility-scale battery
“Kibo will acquire a 51% interest in NBS, storage system, to ensure consistent and reliable
in exchange for granting NBS exclusive access electricity supply to clients who are increasingly
to Kibo’s strategic capabilities and capacity, in suffering from the unreliable electricity supply
respect of long-duration storage solutions, for by the national utility,” he said.
specific market sectors covered by NBS’s project “The projects will service specific industry /
portfolio. Kibo will also appoint three directors business sectors within South Africa, with many
to the board of NBS with Hasta appointing two of these industries severely impacted by the
directors,” it said in the release. frequent load shedding [electricity rationing]
Kibo has operations in South Africa and imposed by the country’s national utility.”™
Britain. It has waste-to-energy investments in

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