African Clean Energy Developments (ACED), EIMS Africa and NOA Group have reached financial close on the 140 MW Ishwati Emoyeni wind farm. Construction has begun with NOA as the power offtaker.

NOA’s trading licence from the National Energy Regulator of South Africa allows it to purchase all electricity generated by the wind farm. Ishwati Emoyeni is the first large-scale renewable energy project to sign a power purchase agreement with NOA. The R4,9 billion project is expected to begin generating electricity in 2026 and will comprise 32 Vestas 4,5 MW wind turbines. It is located adjacent to two other wind projects of similar scale – Umsinde Emoyeni and Khangela Emoyeni.

“This marks the first large-scale renewable project in South Africa to reach financial close with an energy trader as the offtaker,” said Karel Cornelissen, CEO of NOA Group. “With NOA Trading now licensed, we can purchase electricity from Ishwati and other independent power producers, aggregate it and distribute it through the Eskom grid to various offtakers across South Africa.”

The project is backed by the African Infrastructure Investment Managers-managed IDEAS Fund and Reatile as shareholder. Standard Bank was the lead financing arranger. ACED will oversee construction management while EIMS Africa will handle operational management when the project enters production phase.

“NOA is not just facilitating wind or solar energy to end users but is aggregating multiple generators – including wind, solar and battery storage – to provide a more flexible supply of green energy,” said Sherrill Byrne, Executive: Project Finance, Energy and Infrastructure Finance at Standard Bank.