Mulilo Energy announced a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Etana Energy.
Through this agreement, a contracted export capacity of 150 MWAC (electricity delivered to the grid), will be supplied to Ekana’s mining and industrial customers.
Both companies will construct a 219 MWDC solar photovoltaic project in Orkney, situated at an estimated 11 km south-west of the town, in the North West Province.
This is expected to generate about 478 GWh of clean electricity each year.
Jan Fourie, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mulilo, said the project will result in the avoidance of over 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions annually and will provide enough energy to power approximately 210,000 households.
The facility will connect to the Jersey Distribution Substation via a newly constructed 24 km overhead transmission line, ensuring seamless integration into the regional electricity network.
Its design is battery energy storage system (BESS) ready, enabling future integration of storage capacity to enhance grid flexibility and dispatchability.
The project was funded by the Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and Norfund, as well as close collaboration with Mulilo’s funding, legal and advisory partners—Absa Bank, Standard Bank South Africa, Fasken, Arup, PepperTree Capital and ENS Africa.
Jay Govender, Chief Commercial and Legal Officer at Etana Energy, said “this project marks another significant step in Etana Energy’s growth, with the Orkney solar plant being more than double the size of our first solar project under construction with Mulilo. The speed at which this project has reached financial close demonstrates the strength of our partnership with Mulilo, the bankability of our respective structures, and the accelerating demand from customers for reliable, large-scale renewable electricity delivered through Etana’s platform.”
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