Green Economy Journal Issue 56

NEWS & SNIPPETS
NEWS & SNIPPETS
SOUTHPAN SOLAR PLANT
Globeleq, the leading independent power company in
Africa, has completed a $71-million (ZAR1.2-billion) senior
debt restructuring of its 31MW Soutpan Solar Power plant in
Limpopo Province, one of the first solar power plants built
under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power
Producer Procurement programme. By lowering the cost of
debt for the project, the refinancing allows for a significant
reduction in wholesale electricity prices from the plant,
creates a more efficient capital structure enabling release of
funds for shareholders to reinvest in the power sector and
accelerates equity distributions to Soutpan’s community and
BEE shareholders.
Standard Bank Limited led the restructuring of the debt,
alongside the project’s original lender, Vantage Green X Fund.
Soutpan started operations in 2014 and Globeleq acquired a
majority interest in the plant in 2019. Since then, Globeleq has
managed the full scope of operations and maintenance and has
implemented a plan to enhance performance, efficiency, and
safety at the plant.
Globeleq’s CEO, Mike Scholey says, “The successful Soutpan
restructuring is an important transaction which will save Eskom
more than ZAR160-million over the remaining ten years of the
agreement. This is the fourth renewable project that Globeleq
has restructured under the Department of Mineral Resources and
Energy’s IPP Office Refinancing Protocol and further demonstrates
our commitment to supporting initiatives that benefit energy
users and encourage investment while loadshedding continues.”
“Standard Bank is delighted to support Globeleq and underwrite
Soutpan in the restructure of its debt which has allowed for a
tariff saving to Eskom and ultimately the South African consumer.
Standard Bank has been involved with Soutpan as Mandated Lead
Arranger and Hedge Provider since 2012 when Soutpan started
construction. Our longstanding partnership and journey together
demonstrates Standard Bank’s commitment to the renewable
sector and our client relationships,” says Sherrill Byrne, Executive
Energy, and Infrastructure Finance.
LOADSHEDDING AFFECTS WATER
Loadshedding is not just about the inconvenience of being without
lights or television and the means to cook a meal, it negatively
impacts our ability to earn a living, seek reliable healthcare, have
confidence in the cold chain through which most of our food is
moved, and – as recent news reports highlight – trust the quality of
the water in our taps.
The City of Cape Town has warned of water supply shortages related
to loadshedding while the Breede Valley Municipality urged residents
to boil water as electricity outages hit its water and waste-water
treatment plants hard.
Johannesburg Water has said that many of its customers in higherlying
areas experienced low pressure to no water during load shedding
and asked those in lower-lying areas to use water sparingly to assist
with the recovery of the affected infrastructure.
Similarly, the City of Tshwane and uMgungundlovu District
Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands have explained that their
reservoirs rely on a continuous flow to maintain levels and be prepared
for outages. That continuous flow relies on the pump stations running
10
to move the water and the pump stations rely on Eskom’s grid to
provide the power.
Exacerbating water quality challenges in KwaZulu-Natal are the
floods in April 2022. These damaged eight sewerage treatment plants
and resulted in millions of litres of untreated sewage spilling into the
beaches, rivers, harbours and ocean in and around Durban. Only some
of the infrastructure has been repaired, and Durban’s waters are still
contaminated.
“The lack of water in our taps and questionable quality of what water
there is will see more and more South Africans turning to bottled water
for drinking and cooking,” said South African National Bottled Water
Association (SANBWA) CEO, Charlotte Metcalf.
“While this is good news for the industry as a whole, for an
organisation like SANBWA whose members comply with a stringent
standard that benchmarks favourably against others found globally, it
also rings alarm bells.
“This is because the growth will likely attract many new entrants into
the market, but not all of these will comply with the strict standards
required the FC&D Act, the legislation that regulates all enterprises in
South Africa packaging water for sale to the public.
“In addition, fly-by-night operators think nothing of bottling
waters from unsuitable sources under unsanitary conditions and into
packaging that might not even be sterile.”
Charlotte Metcalf South African National Bottled Water Association
(SANBWA) CEO.
“One way consumers can protect themselves is to look for the
SANBWA logo on a bottle of water. This guarantees that the product
is genuine natural mineral or spring water, and that the source is
sustainable, she said.
Metcalf suggested you take the following measures if you suspect
load shedding is negatively impacting your water supply:
• Boil the water from your tap and allow it to cool before using it to
drink and wash salad ingredients.
• If you opt to make use of a home filtration system make certain
that you select one that delivers what the brochure or website
promises as recent research has highlighted that not all systems
are created equal nor live up to their marketing messages.
• Only purchase bottled water featuring the SANBWA logo on
the bottle because that logo guarantees that the water in that
bottle comes from uncontaminated sources and that the bottling
facility is hygienic and operated according to legislation and good
manufacturing practices.
• Avoid buying water from retailers who fill new containers in-store
– this is an illegal practise as the legal requirements to bottle
a food product cannot be adhered to. They are mostly filling
from a municipal source thus using the limited available water
during loadshedding.
• Refuse the restaurant’s offer of water in a jug or its own ‘bottled
water’. These bottles are usually filled using a countertop filling
system connected to the municipal source, which may or may not
be contaminated. Further, there is no guarantee the bottles and
the ‘Grolsch’ cap they are typically closed with have been properly
cleaned and sanitised before being filled. The moment water is
pre-filled it needs to conform with packaged water legislation. In
the restaurant filling set-up this is not possible.
SECURITY
INSPECTION
AGRICULTURE
MICROSOFT BUILDS ENERGY SUPPLY CHAIN
Qcells, a global solar leader investing in building a US solar
supply chain, and Microsoft, a global technology company with
a commitment to be carbon negative by 2030, are partnering
to enable a strong supply chain for new renewable electricity
capacity projected to require at least 2.5GW of solar panels and
related services — equivalent to powering over 400 000 homes.
Qcells, owned by Hanwha Solutions headquartered in Seoul, will
work with Microsoft to develop solar projects as well as provide
panels and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)
services to selected solar projects Microsoft has contracted for
through power purchase agreements (PPAs).
Microsoft has committed to purchasing renewable energy with
a goal of achieving 100% coverage of electricity consumption
with renewable energy by 2025. Microsoft is extending its
sustainability activities to support domestic production of green
energy equipment in the regions it operates globally. Microsoft is
supporting Qcells’ solar products, including those manufactured
domestically, to bring more renewable energy to the grid. Qcells is
the only company in the US that will have a complete solar supply
chain and provides one-stop clean energy solutions. This alliance is
the first time a company that procures energy is working directly
with a solar supplier to adopt clean energy on a big scale.
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