R40bn Eastern Cape green energy cluster expected to reach financial close in 2027

Emerging electricity retail brand Earth & Wire is aiming to achieve financial close on a R40-billion renewables and storage cluster in the Eastern Cape by the third quarter of 2027 and begin supplying green electricity to multiple customers by 2030. Known as EnergyFields, the facility is planned for construction south of Somerset East in the Blue Crane Route municipality on the western side of the N10, and will blend 700 MW of wind and 800 MW of solar PV with a battery energy storage system (BESS) facility of between 400 MW and 500 MW in size with four hours of storage.