South African coal mining company Seriti Resources has entered into an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Windlab, Africa’s wind, and solar-powered assets. The R892 million acquisition is part of the miner’s strategic efforts to expand beyond its coal asset portfolio and into the renewable energy space.
Seriti will have a controlling interest of 51%, while the remaining 49% will be divided among its partners, namely Standard Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, Ntiso Investment Holdings and Windlab CEO Peter Venn.
Seriti Green, a subsidiary of Seriti Resources, is expected to start building wind farms in Mpumalanga that will yield three gigawatts of wind and solar energy by 2030. The project is expected to unlock a capital investment of R75 billion.
Seriti CEO Mike Tete says the acquisition supports the company’s strategy towards being a diversified energy business.
“We are unwavering in our commitment to being a coal miner but what has happened over the years is that key questions that get asked is, are you going to stay a coal miner throughout? And what we are saying is that we are transitioning into an energy company. A company that recognises that while we are running a coal mining business, there are opportunities in the energy space. And opportunities include investing in solar, investing in wind, investing in other forms of renewable energy.”
Venn says they plan to produce one gigawatt of energy over the next 12 months.
“Windlab has secured significant land in Mpumalanga to build the current pipeline without accessing Seriti Resources’ land. But secondly, there is a plan to look at all that, particularly mines that may start coming into the decommissioning stage, re-permitting those, particularly looking at solar PV and battery storage on Seriti land is part of the pipeline as we go forward. We need to realise that there are six gigawatts of current access to the grid.”
Rand Merchant Bank says the deal is a necessary endorsement for black ownership in the renewable energy space.
“With a lot of conversation with government, one of the biggest hurdles that they been facing is the creation of a truly South African black-owned IPP. In the last 12 years, as you know, the space has been dominated by the European players, and for us to kind of support Seriti to plug that whole is a massive thing for RMB,” says the bank’s Kwabena Malgas.
Windlab is currently overseeing 3.5 GWs of renewable energy projects at different stages of development in South Africa and east Africa.
