Globeleq has reached commercial and financial close on its 153 MW/612 MWh Red Sands battery energy storage system (BESS) in South Africa’s Northern Cape, in what is being described as Africa’s biggest standalone battery project to reach commercial close.
The renewables developer, owned by the development finance institutions of the United Kingdom and Norway, will build the project near Upington. South Africa’s Department of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) have signed offtake agreements for the facility, which will support the national grid.
Globeleq, which acquired the project from South African developer African Green Ventures in 2023, described Red Sands as “the largest standalone BESS plant in Africa to reach commercial close.” The five-hectare site was awarded preferred bidder status last year under South Africa’s Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Programme. It will supply grid-strengthening ancillary and grid management services to the NTCSA network, alongside electricity under a 15-year power purchase agreement.
Globeleq said it had borrowed around ZAR 5.4 billion ($304 million) from Johannesburg-based lenders ABSA Group and Standard Bank to finance the project. State-owned China Energy Engineering Corp has been appointed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) provider, while China’s Sungrow will supply the battery system under a long-term service agreement. The developer said the project would require 250 construction jobs and 80 operational roles.
Globeleq, 70% owned by British International Investment and 30% by Norfund, said the BESS will be its second and will join a portfolio of 13 other solar, wind and solar-plus-storage projects across South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Egypt. The company is also constructing the Menengai geothermal project in Kenya. Its Red Sands partner is the African Rainbow Energy clean power investment platform, owned by renewables and gas company African Rainbow Energy and Power and by Johannesburg-based bank ABSA Group.
Globeleq CEO Jonathan Hoffman concluded, “Commercial close on the Red Sands BESS is a landmark moment for Globeleq and for battery energy storage in Africa. It highlights our ability to deliver large-scale, clean energy infrastructure that meets the continent’s evolving power needs. Building on over a decade of renewable energy leadership in South Africa and our Cuamba solar-plus-storage plant in Mozambique, we’re integrating battery energy storage across our portfolio to support resilient, low-carbon power systems across Africa.”