Globeleq, a leading independent power company in Africa and its project partner, African Rainbow Energy, have reached financial close on the 153 MW/612 MWh Red Sands battery energy storage project (BESS) in South Africa.The project is Africa’s largest standalone BESS facility to reach financial close.

Signing of the project agreements with the Department of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA), were recently completed by the Minister of Electricity and Energy, the Honourable Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Interim CEO of the NTCSA, Segomoco Scheppers, and Globeleq’s CEO, Jonathan Hoffman, on the sidelines of the 2025 Africa Energy Forum in Cape Town.

Globeleq and African Rainbow Energy raised approximately ZAR 5.4 billion (~US$ 300m) in debt financing from Absa and Standard Bank. China Energy Engineering Corporation has been selected as the engineering and procurement contractor, with the BESS technology and long-term service agreement provided by Sungrow, a global leader in inverter and energy storage system solutions.The Red Sands BESS is projected to create around 250 jobs during the construction phase and 80 jobs during operations, with a strong emphasis on sourcing local talent throughout both stages.

Located near Upington in South Africa’s Northern Cape, the Red Sands BESS will span approximately five hectares and supply electricity to NTCSA under a 15-year power purchase agreement. The project includes significant upgrades to Eskom and NTCSA’s grid infrastructure and will help ease transmission and distribution congestion in the region.

Globeleq has led the development and financing process, and will manage the project during construction and into operation through its wholly owned subsidiary, Globeleq South Africa Management Services.The project was originally developed by African Green Ventures and was acquired by Globeleq in 2023.Red Sands BESS will be Globeleq’s second utility scale BESS in its renewable portfolio adding to its 13 solar, wind and hybrid PV plus BESS plants in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya and Egypt, and the Menengai Geothermal plant, currently under construction in Kenya.