Private Hospital Group Signs Its First Solar PPA For Six Plants
Mediclinic Limited, a private hospital group based in South Africa and Namibia, has contracted Moshesh Partners, a black-owned alternative renewable energy asset manager, to install solar photovoltaic systems at six of its hospitals.
The hospital group has signed a 12-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Moshesh Partners and included the option to extend the PPA to 25 years.
The solar PV systems will generate electricity that is supplied directly to each hospital site, affording them cost savings on their monthly power bills, while relieving pressure on the constrained national grid.
They will be built by ACES Africa, a South African C&I solar PV specialist, which has already completed 153 similar projects in six countries.
Across the six hospitals, the solar sites installed and managed by Moshesh Partners will have the capacity to generate approximately 4,100,000 kilowatt-hours per annum.
The largest facilities will be installed at Mediclinic Vergelegen and Mediclinic Durbanville. Installations will be rolled out from June to December 2021.
While many hospitals have installed diesel or petrol generators to ensure a consistent power supply, these options are expensive to run and generate significant noise and air pollution.
Kobus Jonck, General Manager of Infrastructure of Mediclinic Southern Africa, said: “Having access to on-site clean, affordable energy will help Mediclinic manage its energy costs more effectively, while helping us reduce the group’s carbon footprint – a key priority for our business.”
This is the first investment out of the Moshesh Partners RECI Fund 1 since it reached the first close of its R2 billion renewable energy and clean infrastructure energy fund in September 2020.
It sets the scene for how the fund can help businesses secure consistent energy supplies at predictable pricing from independent and renewable sources – without capital investment.
Daniel Palm, CIO and co-founding member of Moshesh Partners, explained: “Our investment in the project portfolio includes the full installation cost of the solar PV systems, as well as maintaining them to ensure consistent, excellent performance.”
“Mediclinic will benefit from immediate and tangible savings, as well as consistent energy supply from a renewable energy source, without having to allocate capital expenditure. The PPA means that the hospital group will also be protected from excessive power price increases,” Palm adds.
Source: esi
