UAE renewables company Amea Power reached financial close on its 120 MW Doornhoek solar energy plant in South Africa, according to a statement published on Thursday. Amea will get USD 100 mn in debt funding from Standard Bank South Africa, while USD 8 mn in equity funding from the Industrial Development Corporation will go to the company’s local partners. The project will start commercial operations by December 2025.
Background: Amea Power was awarded the 120 MW project in 2022, with construction set to begin mid-2023. Amea holds the majority of the project’s shares, on which it partnered with Ziyanda Energy and Dzimuzwo Energy. The company signed a 20-year power purchase agreement for the plant with South Africa’s Eskom last month. The plant will generate over 325 GWh of clean energy, offsetting 330k tons of CO2 emissions annually, and powering some 97k households.
The company’s African portfolio is booming: Amea Power signed agreements with the governments of Uganda, Djibouti, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to develop renewables projects with a combined 200 MW generation capacity at Cop28. It also signed an agreement with Ethiopia’s Finance Ministry to build a USD 600 mn, 300 MW onshore wind power plant in the country. The UAE firm is also reportedly set to sign a USD 800 mn agreement with Geothermal Development Co of Kenya to develop the 200 MW Baka geothermal energy generation plant in the East African country.