• Bela Bela project to power gold mine, cut 143,000 tons CO₂ annually
• Danish, Swedish funds back Sturdee’s regional expansion under JETP program

South African developer Sturdee Energy announced the financial close of its Bela Bela solar project on Wednesday, November 12. The plant, located in Limpopo Province, will have a capacity of 91.2 MW DC (75 MW AC) and is expected to generate about 209 GWh of electricity each year through a wheeling agreement with a major gold mining site. The company estimates the project will avoid nearly 143,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, or more than 4 million tons over its 30-year lifetime.

The project is now ready for construction and forms part of Sturdee Energy’s portfolio of operating assets and pipeline developments, which collectively exceed 200 MW. The Johannesburg-based company did not disclose the financial institutions involved in the deal.

Sturdee has attracted growing interest from Nordic institutional investors in recent months. On March 26, 2025, the Danish Embassy in South Africa announced a 22 million dollar equity injection from the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) to strengthen Sturdee’s ability to invest and mobilize up to an additional 66 million dollars.

This followed a 44 million dollar strategic equity partnership concluded in December 2024 between IFU and Swedfund, with an initial focus on South Africa. The Danish investment is the first made by IFU under the South African Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which aims to support a fair and sustainable shift in the country’s energy system.

With projects in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, Sturdee Energy is positioning itself as an important player in the region’s decarbonization efforts, in line with South Africa’s goal of reducing its dependence on coal and increasing the share of renewables in the national energy mix.

Abdoullah Diop