Norwegian renewables company moves on South African peer

Magnora will almost double its clean power portfolio in South Africa with the acquisition of a 92% stake in African Green Ventures. With the latter’s management team to hold the remaining shares in the business, Magnora has not revealed how much the acquisition will cost nor how the deal will be structured.

South Africa's plans to phase out coal-fired power attracted Magnora to the acquisition.

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Norwegian wind power company Magnora has acquired 92% of Cape Town-based project developer African Green Ventures (AGV) in a move which will double its renewables portfolio in South Africa to almost 1.7GW.

The deal will see Magnora assume control of AGV's more-than-800MW of wind and solar generation capacity after the target company recently signed several land lease option agreements. AGV has already been responsible for some of Magnora’s development activity in South Africa.

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With the South African government targeting the addition of 6GW of solar this decade – plus 14GW of onshore wind farms – under its latest Integrated Resource Plan national energy strategy, AGV has previously stated an ambition to develop more than 2GW of solar and wind in its domestic market.

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Magnora explained the acquisition by stating South Africa is an attractive region for solar and wind development as more than 35GW of its coal-fired power fleet will be decommissioned by 2050. The nation currently generates more than 80% of its energy from coal-fired facilities.

Erik Sneve, chief executive of Magnora, said: “We see great opportunities in South Africa both in the short and long term and we expect increased power consumption due to economic development and green electrification. AGV’s approach to attractive [power-]sourcing projects is complementary to our methods and capabilities and we look forward to having them as a part of the Magnora team.”

Torstein Sanness, chairman of the Norwegian business, said: “Magnora is increasing and sharpening its focus on South Africa in light of the current positive developments in the country and we are confident that the AGV organization will prove to be key to develop[ing] Magnora South Africa in the coming years.”

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