Mulilo Renewable Energy , which received a US200-million investment from Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners in 2023, has since won more utility-scale battery projects in South Africa than any other rival, despite a growing number of competitive entries. The capital injection from CIP, a private equity manager based in Denmark, is helping Mulilo rapidly challenge the dominance of state-owned monopoly Eskom.
Founded in 2008, Mulilo is now positioning itself "to shape the future of the energy market in South Africa", CEO Jan Fourie said in an interview at the firm's Cape Town headquarters. The company is now focused on reaching financial close on R36-billion of projects this year.
South Africa's energy markets have long been ripe for a reset after years of corruption and mismanagement left the country plagued by constant blackouts. While the government began sourcing renewable energy from private producers more than a decade ago, frequent breakdowns at Eskom's coal-fired power plants helped open the door to a growing sector that includes clean energy producers and electricity traders.
Eskom, which still generates more than 80 of South Africa's electricity from coal, has said it plans to build its own renewable energy and storage capacity. For now, though, it's reorganising the business into separate units for generation, transmission and distribution, as it seeks to return to profitability after years of relying on government bailouts to survive.
That's likely a function of competition, banks becoming more comfortable with funding and technology cost curves coming down, according to Fourie, who added Mulilo's battery projects benefit from a "very deep supply chain" for lithium-ion technology.