Alternative investment and fund management group TBI has concluded its first deal in South Africa through its new Amandla Renewable Energy Fund.
As part of the R440-million deal, TBI, along with Momentum Metropolitan Life and Absa, refinanced the existing funding of Emvelo’s 15% stake in the Karoshoek Solar One concentrated solar power (CSP) plant by subscribing for secured redeemable preference shares in the special purpose vehicle that holds Emvelo’s interest in the plant.
This enabled Emvelo to release equity from its original investment and to refinance at an attractive rate for the remainder of the power purchase agreement.
It also means that Emvelo founder Pancho Ndebele has been able to unlock the value created since the CSP plant started operations in 2018, releasing equity to drive further renewable energy projects and realise improved returns for the risk he has already undertaken, TBI said in a statement this week.
The Karoshoek plant contributes 100 MW of reliable, clean and sustainable power to the grid and has a low water footprint and low emissions, TBI noted.
TBI, via its Amandla Renewable Energy Fund, was able to achieve this refinance deal owing to a triple play of understanding the technology, designing the refinance concept and then having the experience to execute the deal, the company acclaimed.
Moreover, it noted that its experienced team was able to do an accurate risk profile for the transaction, structure the legally and financially complex deal in a way that made sense for all parties and maintained black ownership, and navigate all parties through a lengthy transaction.