Khobab Wind Farm

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The 140MW Khobab Wind Farm reached financial closure in February 2015, as Mainstream Renewable Power or the sponsor of the project announced that it had closed financing for its three-wind-farm-portfolio, including Khobab Wind Farm. It was a part of Window 3 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) by Department of Energy (DoE). The DoE selected six solar photovoltaic, seven wind, two concentrated solar power, one landfill gas and one biomass project as preferred bidders in October 2013 for the third round of its REIPPP and the sponsors for each project were scheduled to simultaneously sign power purchase agreements with state utility Eskom and reach financial close on 30 July. The financial closure was delayed mainly due to the insufficient transmission infrastructure for the generation facilities. On July 22, DoE confirmed that the 17 projects involved in the third round of REIPPP would not reach financial close on 30 July 2014, as planned. Unlike in previous rounds of the REIPPP, where the signing of project documents and financial close happened simultaneously, none of the Window 3 deals was expected to close before January 2015 at the earliest, according to sources working on the transactions. This BOO project worth of US$281 million would entail the development of wind farm located in Namakwa, Northern Cape, composed of sixty one 99m-high wind turbines erected on a 3,200 hectares of agricultural land, and connected into a 132kV Eskom line. When operating at full capacity, the Khobab Wind Farm would generate approximately 563,500 MWh of clean renewable energy per year; this was expected to supply electricity to power up to 120 000 South African homes. Khobab Wind Farm would effectively eliminate approximately 550,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year when compared to traditional fossil fuel power plants. The project company was Khobab Wind (Pty) Ltd and it was led by Lekela Power(40%), a joint venture between Actis, and Mainstream Renewable Power. Other members include Thebe Investment Corporation (10%); The IDEAS Managed Fund (Old Mutual Life Assurance Company South Africa) (25%); Futuregrowth Asset Management(Old Mutual Life Assurance Company South Africa) (5%); Genesis Eco-Energy in partnership with Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital(15%); and the Khobab Renewable Energy Trust(5%), which was established with the objective of carrying out public benefit activities to assist the local community through economic development. Lekela Power was a pan-African renewable energy platform which aimed to provide 1,000MW of wind and solar power by 2018. It was a 60:40 joint venture between Actis, the global pan-emerging market private equity firm, and Mainstream Renewable Power, the global wind and solar company. Debt financing was provided by ABSA Bank Limited, Development Bank of Southern Africa, and EKF. The financing details have not been disclosed yet and will be updated soon when publicly available. In addition to the Khobab Wind Farm, Mainstream is currently constructing other two wind farms in the Northern Cape, totalling 360MW and representing an investment of approximately US$722 million (ZAR9 billion). http://www.nersa.org.za/Admin/Document/Editor/file/Consultations/Electricity/Presentations/South%20Africa%20Mainstream%20Renewable%20Power%20Khobab%20Wind%20(Pty)%20LTD.pdf http://khobabwind.co.za/khobab-wind-farm/overview/ Project cost of US$281 million is calculated by "project capacity/total wind farm portfolio capacity x total investment for portfolio. 140/360*722=281 (US$ million) Funding information should be updated soon in the future when the info becomes available.