PNE, a Germany-based renewable energy project developer, sold a 240 MW solar project to the South African energy company NOA Group. The Khauta Project will be constructed in the Free State province in central South Africa. The project is expected to reach the fully developed phase by mid-2024.
The project is in a region with strong mining and agricultural sectors. PNE will continue to support the project through WKN Windcurrent, which belongs to the PNE Group. According to the company, there is potential to expand the size of the project in the future.
Karel Cornelissen, CEO of NOA, said, “The Khauta project will be a pioneering project for NOA as it will be the first large-scale (>100MW) solar facility entering the NOA aggregator portfolio. As NOA, together with the support of our shareholder, African Infrastructure Investment Managers (‘AIIM’), we aspire to make a meaningful contribution towards solving the immediate energy supply deficit in South Africa”.
As of the end of 2023, the German developer had about 4 GW of solar and wind projects under development in South Africa. PNE has been active in South Africa since 2010. The NOA Group, an integrated energy company, develops, constructs, and operates solar, wind, and energy storage projects.
According to Mercom’s Annual and Q4 2023 Solar Funding and M&A report, 231 large-scale solar project acquisitions in 2023 compared to 268 acquisitions in 2022. In 2023, almost 45.4 GW of solar projects were acquired 2023, compared to 66 GW in 2022, a 31% decline YoY.
Recently, Aspen Power, a distributed generation platform developer, announced the acquisition of eight ground-mounted solar projects in Pennsylvania and New York, totaling 41 MW. The projects were acquired from Solar Site Developers, a solar project developer who will also co-develop the project with Aspen Power.
