Seriti Resources is constructing a R4.8bn renewable energy project in Bethal, Mpumalanga, to reduce its reliance on Eskom.
The 155MW Ummbila Emoyeni project is scheduled for completion by mid-July 2026 as the first phase of 900MW of renewable energy to be built over the next three years for R25bn. The project will be carried out by Seriti's majority-owned subsidiary Seriti Green.
Seriti Green said the project comprises two components: a R1bn substation and a R4bn wind farm with 25 turbines. A total of seven phases will see 750MW produced by 111 wind turbines and 150MW of solar PV and battery storage.
Launching the project in Mpumalanga this week, Seriti Green CEO Peter Venn said the substation was being built on behalf of Eskom. “Once complete we will gift it to Eskom. It becomes part of Eskom's balance sheet, Eskom's infrastructure and Eskom owns it and manages it going forward.”
Venn said the energy would be wheeled through the Eskom grid, with the plant expected to be fully commissioned by 2027. It will supply 75% of the power required by Seriti's coal mines and provide electricity for 500,000 households in the area.
Venn said the removal of the 100MW cap for self-power generation had been a game changer for renewable energy projects.
“That is why the industry is so strong. In my personal view the renewable energy independent power producer procurement programme (REIPPPP) office is defunct, it does not need to be there. We had no industry and no infrastructure, we needed a catalyst, so the REIPP programmes 1, 2, and 3 were brilliant. It is now not needed, private power exists.”
We have moved away from 'is it renewables or coal' — it is renewables and coal
— Seriti Green CEO Peter Venn
The REIPPPP is a government initiative aimed at bringing additional power to the country’s electricity system through private sector investment in wind, solar, biomass and small hydro and has attracted R234bn in investments in bid windows 1 to 5, including R43.1bn in foreign investment and financing.
Venn said renewable energy had proved to be cheaper than Eskom electricity and private players had helped carry the country’s renewable energy ambitions. He said South Africa needs a new transmission company to establish a wholesale energy market so that energy can be traded.
“We don't need to go into bilateral agreements, power purchase agreements with all our customers. The coal players can buy power from the market, and we can sell to the market. It makes relations and transactions much easier. That is how many countries work, and that is how, for example, Australia works”.
Venn said about 25% of the project will use local components. .
“We have a huge local capacity issue. Seriti Green is looking very hard at the localisation that can be done. I think there is a huge opportunity for assembly factories as we move forward. We can get to between 50% and 60% localisation, but that is going to take a significant number of years and investment,” he said.
The spokesperson for the South African Wind Energy Association, Morongoa Ramaboa, said the renewable energy master plan encourages local manufacturing.
“Policy certainty is important because we need to restore the faith in South Africa as a renewable energy hub from a manufacturing point of view and a production point of view. We have seen that with wind energy. In the first quarter of 2024 wind accounted for 4.9% of the power generated in South Africa, this means we were the leading renewable energy technology.”
According to the association, 3.6m households are powered by wind energy and South Africa has 34 wind farms, with the wind power sector attracting R89.6bn in investments to date.
Seriti Green was launched in 2023 when Seriti Resources acquired a majority stake in Windlab Africa's wind and solar assets, marking its entry into into renewables.
Venn said Seriti Resources had moved away from being solely a coal player.
“We have moved away from 'is it renewables or coal' — it is renewables and coal. We are a living embodiment of that statement. If you look at the synergies, Seriti had the mineral rights and was able to give them up in favour of a renewable project.”
Mike Teke, Seriti Resources CEO and Seriti Green chair, said while most international players were moving away from coal assets, Seriti Resources would not be exiting coal.
“We believe as part of the just energy transition, we are transitioning from fossil fuels to green energy or renewables, it's an imperative that we do not find ourselves being stranded. Suddenly we say shut the coal-fired power stations in South Africa and then what? We want to make sure as we transition, the transition is as seamless as possible.”
Seriti Resources, Eskom's largest black-owned supplier, has four shareholders: the Masimong Group, Thebe Investments, Zungu Investments and Community Investment Holdings.
A recent World Bank study — “South Africa: country climate and development report” — estimates that R574bn will be required for just transition investments by 2030 and R1.9-trillion by 2050.
