British International Investment

SCATEC KENHARDT 1 (RF) PROPRIETARY LIMITED

Southern AfricaInfrastructure

This investment is one of the three solar + battery storage facilities developed by Scatec ASA, a leading renewable energy solutions provider, under South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

Our investment

Description of the investment.

Together with Kenhardt 2 & 3, this will be Africa’s largest and South Africa’s first baseload renewable energy project, uniquely powered entirely by renewable sources. Once constructed, the three projects will provide a total solar power capacity of 540 megawatts and battery storage capacity of 1.1 gigawatt hour of battery energy storage.

It will increase the share of renewables in the grid and also mitigate the chronic load shedding faced by the country.

Across the three projects, we have provided a $125 million senior debt investment along with an additional $26 million mezzanine financing to Scatec’s co-investor, H1 Holdings – a South African Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) renewables investment and development company.

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.

What?

Impact

Increase the share of renewable energy generation in the South African energy mix to avoid greenhouse gas emissions (SDG 7.2, 13.a).

How?

Primary Secondary
  • Direct: Financing the development of a 50 megawatt solar + battery energy storage capacity to increase the supply of clean and reliable electricity.
  • Catalysing markets: Solar + battery energy storage remains as yet untested as a commercially competitive technology to deliver dispatchable renewable power at a large scale in Africa. This project can reduce perceived risk amongst investors and other developers by proving that this technology is commercially viable, to help catalyse the market for utility-scale renewable generation + battery storage projects on the continent.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Planet

Global

N/A

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

N/A

The project’s contracted capacity is estimated to avoid over 230,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Capital is not available at sufficient scale from commercial sources to meet the funding requirements of South Africa's renewable energy deployment targets. There is limited institutional investor appetite to finance projects prior to commercial operation.

Risk

Execution Risk
  • Relates to the risk that solar + battery storage technology may not be adopted by power utilities at scale due to higher cost of electricity compared to alternatives. This is expected to be mitigated in the medium to long-term due to technological advances and falling battery cost.
Execution Risk
  • Relates to the risk of the project not being constructed as planned or to required specifications, which could delay completion or affect operational performance. Considered low given Scatec's strong operational track record as a project developer.

Impact score

Impact score (at point of investment)

The Impact Score is a tool to help us manage our performance against our strategic impact objectives. It is designed to incentivise investments that support our productive, sustainable, and inclusive objectives. You can find out more here.

The Impact Score is published for investments made from 2022 onwards. The Impact Scores are calculated at the point of investment. We publish the Impact Scores of new investments annually, once the information has been externally assured by an independent third party.

8

Environmental and social information

  • 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.

  • 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

We agreed an ESAP which included the development of a project level ESMS, occupational health and safety measures, supply-chain and safeguarding risk management.

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

  • Key facts

    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D5195
    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

    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.

    Investment type :
    Debt
    Start date :
    July 2022
    Amount :
    $44.14m
    Currency of investment :
    ZAR
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    South Africa
    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

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