Standard Bank, announced this week, it had approved 3 new electricity generation projects.
A lead arranger and underwriter from the Bank, supported these projects, which are also signed into Government’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), together with British International Investment. They are scheduled to add 2000 MW to the grid.
The bank said its commitment to energy security dates back to 2020, when the RMIPPPP was first gazetted by the Minster of Mineral Resources and Energy, to alleviate the country’s power constraints. The bank has supported clients, like Scatec and H1 Holdings, who brought three projects valued at over R16 billion to fruition.
These renewable solar and battery storage projects will each target 50MW of dispatchable generation capacity.
The projects are aligned to Standard Bank Group’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) framework, which was captured in the launch of its Climate Policy in March this year. In the policy, Standard Bank commits to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from its own operations for newly built facilities by 2030, for existing facilities by 2040, and in its portfolio of financed emissions by 2050.
A statement from Standard Bank, also said the Group will mobilise a cumulative amount of between R250 billion and R300 billion for sustainable finance by the end of 2026. This target includes R50 billion of financing for renewable energy, and underwriting of a further R15 billion for renewable energy by the end of 2024.