South African power utility Eskom has secured a €75m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its 100 MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape.
South African power utility Eskom has secured a €75m loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support its 100MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the Northern Cape.
The African Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, Clean Technology Fund (CTF), KfW and the World Bank are co-financing the project.
Eskom senior general manager for renewables Ayanda Nakedi said: "Eskom is committed to investing in projects that will diversify our energy mix, including renewable resources."
"The potential to deploy CSP technologies on a large scale is promising, and we are pleased to have taken another step forward in funding our Upington solar plant with this loan agreement," Nakedi added.
The EIB vice president Pim van Ballekom said, "Energy is essential for economic activity and investment in new renewable energy generation capacity can harness South Africa's natural resources. The European Investment Bank is pleased to work with Eskom to support the CSP plant that will act as a model for similar schemes elsewhere and looks forward to continued engagement in South Africa under a new mandate agreed earlier this year." The EIB has also provided a total of €220m for the neighbouring Ka Xu CSP plant.
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