Black-owned coal miner Seriti Resources has dived into the renewable energy sector through a US $55 million acquisition of a majority stake in Windlab Africa’s wind and solar assets.
The privately owned firm will acquire 51% of Windlab Africa, which has 3.5GW of renewable energy projects at different stages of development in South Africa and East Africa.
The bulk of this investment will be made in South Africa where some 3GW of power will be generated from wind farms to be built by 2030, Most of those will be located in Mpumalanga where the first 450MW project will be built next year at a cost of around R12.5bn. The balance is to be invested in East Africa.
Green energy
“We need to be moving towards a lower carbon future through investing capital from coal into green energy. It is not only the right thing to do, but it makes business and societal sense,” said Seriti CEO Mike Teke. The CEO aims to have the deal concluded by the first quarter of 2023.
Seriti has grown rapidly in recent years, buying mines from international resource companies including Anglo American Plc and TotalEnergies SE that have curbed their exposure to South African coal. With the renewable deal, the company joins local producers such as Exxaro Resources Ltd. that have acquired clean-energy assets.
Both companies last year outlined a plan to shift to renewable projects at their mines, potentially reducing CO2 emissions by as much as 350,000 tons a year for Seriti, more than half of its current emissions, and 130,000 tons a year for Exxaro at its Matla coal mine.