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French power company takes stake in DPA

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 24 May 2022
Norman Moyo, CEO of Distributed Power Africa.
Norman Moyo, CEO of Distributed Power Africa.

French energy giant Électricité de France (EDF) is buying 50% of Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a Cassava Technologies business, seeking to develop hybrid energy solutions for businesses in SA.

The partnership will bring to life 75MW of green energy projects that DPA has in SA, targeted at commercial and industrial customers.

SA is suffering crippling power shortages that have taken a toll on business. Power utility Eskom has of late been implementing unprecedented onerous load-shedding.

The power utility has been struggling with maintaining a steady power supply due to a myriad of issues, including aging infrastructure and other legacy issues.

Resultantly, more companies are turning to renewable energy, opting to go off the grid − an opportunity DPA and EDF hope to capture.

DPA is already among the renewable energy companies that have been contracted by various businesses for green energy installations.

“South Africa is facing long hours of load-shedding and increasing electricity costs. This partnership comes at an opportune time where the country is pushing for an updated renewable energy policy, and the world is facing a sudden rise in diesel costs,” says Norman Moyo, CEO of DPA.

“As a business of Cassava Technologies, our achievements and initiatives ensure we enable social mobility and the economic prosperity of individuals and businesses across the continent through increased access to innovative technologies.”

According to Moyo, the EDF investment will allow DPA to generate hundreds of new construction jobs in the country, adding a much-needed boost to the local economy.

Béatrice Buffon, EDF group senior executive vice-president, international division, , comments: “We are excited about once again partnering with DPA as we extend our footprint on the African continent. Both companies have a proven history of joint energy operations in Kenya.

“This partnership represents an opportunity for EDF to deliver comprehensive and low-carbon energy solutions suitable for African C&I needs, and allows us to enlarge our portfolio of activities on the continent where we already have large hydro power projects under development, and are invested in a portfolio of off-grid companies.

“It contributes to achieving one of the main goals in our CAP 2030 strategy: to triple our operations on an international scale compared to 2015.”

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