Westbrooke Renewable Energy Alternatives (Westbrooke Real), an alternative investment strategy managed by Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management, has acquired a portfolio of operational solar PV and battery energy storage system (BESS) assets located at 91 Shell Downstream South Africa- (SDSA-) owned service stations across South Africa. The portfolio was bought alongside one of Westbrooke Real’s partners, CVE South Africa, an experienced independent power producer. The assets were acquired from Thebe Solar Energy, which exited its position as part of a strategic realignment.
State-owned Eskom’s return to profitability for the first time in eight years, with a profit before tax of R23.9-billion for the 2025 financial year, offers some welcome positive news for the power utility and the broader economy, business organisation Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso highlights in her latest weekly newsletter. The significant reduction in loadshedding this year has improved electricity supply reliability and boosted Eskom’s revenue owing to lower spending on diesel-based open-cycle gas turbines, she points out, adding that the utility’s turnaround was supported by over 350 private sector experts mobilised by the National Electricity Crisis Committee.
The South African Independent Power Producer Association (SAIPPA) expects to meet with Eskom later this month to discuss its concern that the State-owned entity’s proposed renewables projects may not be subjected to the same grid-access rules that are currently applied to independent power producers (IPPs). The association has also written to the Competition Commission highlighting the risk for market-dominance abuse should Eskom be allowed to bypass the prevailing Interim Grid Connection Allocation Rules (IGCAR) when moving to develop new renewables assets in close proximity to coal stations that are scheduled for retirement in the coming years.
A joint letter sent to the Independent Power Producer Office (IPP Office) on September 23 by organisations representing local industry, raised several concerns about the prequalification process launched ahead of the inaugural Independent Transmission Project (ITP) procurement programme. In the letter, the Powerline and Substation Association, the Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa and the Manufacturing Circle described the technical and financial criteria included …
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