Lyra Energy has reached financial close on the 255MW Thakadu solar power project in South Africa
It has also commenced construction of the facility, located on the border of South Africa's Free State and North West provinces.
Lyra is a renewable energy partnership between Scatec, Standard Bank and Stanlib.
“This marks an important milestone for Lyra Energy and the Thakadu project,” said Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
“With contracted private sector offtake in place and financing secured, the project is well positioned for construction and delivery.”
The project will be built in two phases, with construction of the first phase now commencing.
The second phase is expected to start construction in the second half of 2026.
The total capital expenditure for the project is approximately ZAR 4bn (US$240mn) and will be financed by a combination of non-recourse project debt and equity from the owners, with a target leverage of 80%.
The senior lender is Standard Bank of South Africa.
Scatec will provide Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), Asset Management (AM) and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) services for the project.
Its EPC-scope corresponds to approximately 80% of total capex.
Commercial operations date for the first phase is expected in the first half of 2027.
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Powering up solar in South Africa (Image source: Adobe Stock)
