French energy giant Électricité de France (EDF) is buying 50% of the South African operations of Distributed Power Africa (DPA), a unit of Econet’s Cassava Technologies, hoping to take advantage of worsening power shortages there.
The two companies say the transaction will help bring to life the 75MW of green energy projects that DPA has in the pipeline, which are mostly targeted at commercial & industrial customers in South Africa. The companies are seeing potential in that country’s worsening power shortages.
“South Africa is facing long hours of load shedding and increasing electricity costs. This partnership comes at an opportune time where the country is pushing for an updated renewable energy policy, and the world is facing a sudden rise in diesel costs,” according to Norman Moyo, CEO Africa of DPA.
“As a business of Cassava Technologies, our achievements and initiatives ensure that we enable social mobility and the economic prosperity of individuals and businesses across the continent through increased access to innovative technologies,” Moyo added.
EDF Group is already active in South Africa, and bought 50% of DPA’s Kenya business in a similar deal in 2021.
“We are excited about once again partnering with DPA as we extend our footprint on the African continent. Both companies have a proven history of joint energy operations in Kenya,” said EDF Group Senior Executive Vice President, International Division, Beatrice Buffon.
EDF is a US$30 billion company, 84%-owned by the French government. It generates 20% of the UK’s energy.
In South Africa, DPA has commissioned projects for commercial and industrial companies like Makro, Builders Warehouse, Africa Data Centres, and Liquid Intelligent Technologies. The company’s distributed energy strategy aligns with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) 2019, which anticipates decommissioning most coal-fired power stations by 2030.
