Eskom has signed a Euro 100 million (R1.3 billion) loan agreement to fund a 100 megawatt solar power plant, the parastatal said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The agreement with development finance institution Agence Fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9veloppement (AFD) was signed on Tuesday night, Eskom said.<\/p>\n
It would fund the Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant near Upington in the Northern Cape.<\/p>\n
“CSP… puts us on a path towards reducing our carbon footprint and investing in a sustainable energy future,” Eskom CEO Brian Dames said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The CSP project was expected to produce 525 gigawatt hours of energy and supply power to 200,000 homes.<\/p>\n
Eskom’s senior general manager for renewables Ayanda Nakedi said the funding would contribute to South Africa’s low carbon trajectory and commitment to climate change.<\/p>\n
Promoting the localisation of the plant’s technology would also pave the way for industrial development and job creation, Nakedi said.<\/p>\n
The AFD is financing the plant together with the African Development Bank, investment funding company Clean Technology Fund (CTF), European Investment Bank (EIB), German government-owned development bank KfW and the World Bank, Eskom said.<\/p>\n
The AFD had so far loaned South Africa around Euro 200 million (about R2.7bn) towards two renewable energy projects.<\/p>\n
In 2011, AFD and Eskom signed a Euro 100 million (R1.3bn) loan agreement to fund the Sere wind farm near Vredendal in the Western Cape.<\/p>\n
AFD finances developments according to the French government’s overseas development assistance policies.<\/p>\n
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