Big-four bank Standard Bank has announced the successful close of a bespoke R1.92 billion equity financing solution for H1 Holdings,
The funding, says a statement, is designed to facilitate the exit of an investment provided by British International Investment, the Industrial Development Corporation and Norfund.
H1 Holdings is a black-owned and -managed company based in South Africa. It was founded in 2000, with the purpose of improving the quality of life by producing cleaner energy.
The funding proceeds are underpinned by H1’s 49% interest in the Kenhardt hybrid battery and solar projects, which collectively represent Africa’s “largest hybrid renewable energy cluster”, it notes.
Calvin Alwar, deal lead, structured capital at Standard Bank, says: “We are proud to have partnered with H1 Holdings on this and look forward to collaborating further on this transformative project as they continue to shape the future of energy in Africa.”
The Kenhardt solar farm is a large-scale hybrid renewable energy project in Kenhardt, Northern Cape, consisting of three solar power plants with a combined capacity of 540MW and a 1 140MWh battery storage system.
According to the statement, hybrid systems integrate multiple energy sources to compensate for the variability of each, presenting not only the environmental benefit of lowering carbon emissions, but also reducing the risk of outages as energy is produced through more than one source. They do, however, require advanced control systems to manage different inputs, which are contributing factors to the cost of these projects.
Clean energy company H1 has built a portfolio of 24 projects, totalling approximately 2.8GW of generation capacity and 1.14GWh of storage capacity.
“We are thrilled to partner with Standard Bank on this milestone transaction,” comments Jonathan Muller, head of asset management at H1 Holdings. “Kenhardt is a flagship project for us, and this financing solution ensures we can continue to deliver sustainable energy solutions at scale.”
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