ENGIE has completed the acquisition of Abengoa’s indirect stake in Xina Solar One (Pty) Ltd
Following completion of the transaction, ENGIE will hold a 40% equity stake in the Xina Solar One 100MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, as well as a 46% of the Xina Operations & Maintenance Company (Pty) Ltd.
The Xina Solar One plant, located at Pofadder in the Northern Cape, provides approximately 400 GWh of clean, sustainable and dispatchable electrical energy to 95,000 South African households and prevents the emission into the atmosphere of approximately 348,000 tons of CO2 each year. The plant uses parabolic trough technology to generate renewable, sustainable and dispatchable power from the sun. Furthermore, this power plant features a thermal energy storage system that uses molten salts to store the necessary energy for a further 5½ hours supply, and thereby assists in meeting the South African peak demand.
With this acquisition, ENGIE will have a total installed capacity of 1,320 MW in South Africa and consolidates its position as a major IPP player. The Group is present in the country with around 520 employees in electricity production, engineering and energy solutions.
“The acquisition of Xina Solar One supports our 2045 net zero carbon ambitions by contributing to a global target of 50GW of installed renewable capacity by 2025 and 80 GW by 2030”, commented Mohamed Hoosen, ENGIE managing director, Renewables for Asia, Middle East & Africa.
In South Africa, in addition to Xina Solar One, ENGIE has interests in a CSP plant (100MW Kathu), a wind farm (94MW Aurora), two solar photovoltaic plants (21 MW) and two thermal power peaking plants (670MW Avon and 335MW Dedisa).
