Cennergi, the recently-formed African energy company which is committed to providing energy solutions to Africans, is gearing up to acquire sizeable operational energy assets in generation on the African continent. Having spent the past year developing its business model and putting together a dynamic management team, Cennergi is now looking for African partners who can broaden its horizons.  The company is seeking established and credible partners across Africa who own profitable, high quality operational energy generating assets, not limited to renewables, to boost its asset portfolio on the continent.  “Cennergi is a long term player and is serious about investing in Africa on a large scale,” says CEO Thomas Garner. “Cennergi can offer full support and we are considering assets in generation,” says Garner.   

Cennergi launched its operations in the South African renewable energy sector in 2012 and were awarded the bids for two wind farm projects in the Eastern Cape by participating in the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer’s Programme (REIPPP).  Whilst the company is proud of this early achievement, and although it aims to focus on using cleaner energy technologies, it has a much broader vision for its African operations.  The Cennergi team will focus on building a diversified portfolio of energy assets which includes coal, gas, hydro, wind and solar.

“Whilst we strongly believe in the REIPPP in South Africa, we are casting the net wider,” says Wendy Green, Cennergi’s Business Development Manager.  “We want to participate in all areas of energy generation.  We are well positioned to do so – we have the right shareholders in Exxaro and Tata Power, with a combination of access to capital and the operational expertise. We have also applied ourselves to ensuring that we have the right team to handle the challenges of doing business in Africa,” she says.

With the backing of these two global powerhouses, Cennergi is setting out with bold plans. Through its shareholder Tata Power, Cennergi has decades of experience in the generation and distribution of power.  In addition, the company has access to Exxaro’s African heritage, project management and technical expertise to deliver on its vision of being an owner of high quality, profitable operating assets. 

Although developing energy assets from the ground up is part and parcel of Cennergi’s business strategy, it recognises that there are already significant, profitable energy operations on the continent that can help establish Cennergi’s business operations on the continent.   “We have a vision of owning a significant portion of 16GW of energy assets by 2025 which can’t be achieved by developing all of our assets from scratch, so we are actively pursuing and scrutinising credible partners,” says Demetri Pappadopolous, Cennergi Exco Member and Strategic Adviser.