Our investment
Description of the investment.
Description of the investment.
We are providing a liquidity guarantee alongside GuarantCo to new South African energy trader ETANA, with an aim to unlock renewable energy projects in South Africa and ultimately catalyse the development of more projects to help channel renewable energy to industrial customers.
Impact information
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.
What?
| Impact |
|---|
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How?
| Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|
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ETANA’s business model presents an innovative way to create bankable offtake agreements for South African energy producers, as well as facilitate the use of renewable energy for commercial and industrial customers. If successful, ETANA could prove that the energy trading model can work in South Africa, which would be an evolution in the market and would stimulate further investment and a scale up of renewable energy supply. |
Direct: In the first stages of the business, c. 390 MW of projects are expected to be built due to ETANA’s commitment to purchase the power, a commitment made more appealing to the seller due to BII's guarantee product. Economic Enabler: Through unlocking investment in new generation capacity, ETANA’s business model has a knock-on effect of increasing supply and reducing load shedding caused by energy shortages. This in turn will unlock economic activity for businesses who benefit from the improved power supply. |
Who?
| Stakeholder | Geography | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Firms and Employees |
South Africa |
Grid connected business in South Africa |
| Planet |
Global |
How much?
| Scale | Depth/Duration |
|---|---|
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ETANA's near-term pipeline includes 390 MW which will generate ~1.1 GWh/ per year. |
ETANA's near-term pipeline includes 390 MW which will generate ~1.1 GWh of renewable energy per year, which will abate ~ 1,215,000 tCo2e per year. |
Contribution/additionality
| Contribution/additionality |
|---|
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This is High Contribution transaction. At this stage, there is high confidence that no commercial investors are interested in taking exposure as a guarantor to ETANA, due to the innovative and complex web of different risks the guarantee is exposed to. |
Risk
Execution RiskThe project relies on successfully securing both supply and demand contracts with Generators and Customers, respectively. This business model is relatively untested so ETANA’s ability to secure a material number of Generators and Customers with little track record will be important. External RiskThe South African national utility, Eskom is experiencing severe grid reliability issues resulting in load-shedding across the country. When load-shedding occurs in an area, no power is distributed via the grid (this could impact ETANA’s energy flows). As a result, renewable power does not reach consumers. Execution RiskETANA’s ability to successfully operate in the South African market is dependent on the roll out of Eskom’s virtual wheeling platform. Delays in the roll out of the platform risks the intended impact. This is aligned with the commercial risks of the project. |
Environmental and social information
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Environmental and social summary
A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
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Environmental and social risk
A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.
Environmental and social summary
This investment is classified as medium-low E&S risk as Etana is an energy trading company. Hence our E&S focus for Etana is internal compliance with E&S requirements and ensuring alignment with BII's fossil fuel policy for energy buyers.
Environmental and social risk
Medium-Low
Reporting and Complaints Mechanism
The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.
For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk
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Key facts
- First published
:
When the investment was first published on the website database.
- March 2025
- Last updated
:
When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
- March 2025
- Project number
:
An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
- D6378
- Status
:
The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
- Active
- Region
:
The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
- Southern Africa
- Country
:
The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.
- South Africa
- Sector
:
We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.
- Infrastructure
- Sub sector
:
The sub-sector that the investment is made into; this provides a more granular level of detail than the ‘sector’ information
- Independent Power and Renewable Electricity Producers
- Investment type :
- Guarantee
- Start date :
- December 2024
- Amount :
- $50m
- Currency of investment :
- ZAR
- Domicile
:
The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
- South Africa
We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.
For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.
For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.
For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.
For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.
For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.
For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.
The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.
For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.
The currency in which the investment was made.
- Climate finance
:
Indicates whether the investment is climate finance qualified or partially climate finance qualified and the type of climate finance (adaptation, mitigation or both). We define climate finance using the multilateral development bank (MDB) and the International Development Finance Club (IDFC) Common Principles climate finance methodology. See Common Principles for Climate Mitigation Finance Tracking and Common Principles for Climate Change Adaptation Finance Tracking. We provide the climate finance qualification and type for commitments from 2020 onwards, which is when we launched our Climate Change Strategy.
- Fully qualified
- Climate finance type
:
Mitigation: Indicates investments which, by avoiding or reducing GHG emissions or increasing GHG sequestration, contributes substantially to the stabilisation of GHG concentrations in the atmosphere – at a level which prevents dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system consistent with the long-term temperature goal of the Paris Agreement
Adaptation: Indicates investments aimed at preventing or reducing the risks or vulnerabilities posed by climate change and increasing climate resilience. This includes both adapted activities and enabling activities to manage and reduce physical climate risks
Dual: Indicates investments directed towards activities contributing to both climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation and meeting the respective criteria for each category
The climate finance type of the investment is determined at time of commitment.
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- Mitigation
- First published
