• Mulilo reaches financial close on 380 MW solar plant in Beaufort West
• Plant to generate 818 GWh annually, supply businesses via PPA
• Project avoids 860,000 tons CO2 yearly, backed by major investors

Independent power producer Mulilo said on Monday it had reached financial close on a 380 MWdc photovoltaic plant in Beaufort West.

The facility will have an injection capacity of 250 MWac and will be connected to the Droërivier substation to feed into the national grid. The South African developer said the plant is expected to generate about 818 GWh of electricity a year.

The power will be sold to commercial and industrial customers under a multi-year power purchase agreement signed with NOA Group, a Cape Town-based electricity aggregator and trader.

The project is expected to avoid approximately 860,000 metric tons of CO2 per year. The company did not disclose the financing amount. The project received backing from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Norfund, as well as several financial institutions, including Absa, Standard Bank, Investec and Nedbank.

Another Financial Close for the Energy Transition

Mulilo said this is its fourth project to reach financial close this year, following the Orkney and Middlepunt solar projects and the Mercury BESS storage system. The company said it has surpassed its annual target of 1 GW of deployed renewable capacity, bringing its total portfolio to more than 2 GW in operation and under construction.

"The Beaufort West Solar PV project is Mulilo’s first renewable energy project in the Western Cape Province and stands as a testament to Mulilo’s unwavering commitment to driving South Africa’s energy transition," Chief Executive Jan Fourie said.

The project is part of a broader expansion of private power purchase agreements in South Africa, which allow companies to secure their electricity supply in the face of grid capacity constraints. Mulilo is among the developers active in this segment.

On March 31, the company announced an investment of approximately 15 billion rand, or nearly $918 million, to develop a project portfolio including 716 MW of solar and storage capacity.

Abdoullah Diop