(This blog has also been distributed via email).
Dear 12J Shareholders.
We end the year with more positive news as we now confirm securing two further solar plant contracts with battery backup, while our large construction projects are all on track to be live before the end of February 2024.
All in all, our 12J renewables fund now has 7 operational solar sites, while another 4 is under construction. We really have made significant progress over the last few months!
This will be the last newsletter for the year, which we will present in short and concise bullet point format:
- New Contract in Stilbaai: We have secured the PPA to provide a solar and backup battery solution for an old age home in Stilbaai. The contract value is approximately R3 million and we expect to go live mid February 2024;
- New Western Cape Agri solar and battery project: We also won a 7 year PPA for solar and battery backup for another farm close to Wellington in the Western Cape. The project size is similar to Huis Stilbaai and we also expect to be fully operational during February 2024;
- Nicolor Gold processing plant: Construction at the Nicolor gold processing plant near Stilfontein is going well. This is not only our largest project to date, but also our first ground mount solar project, implying civil construction and site preparation forming a critical part of the project over and above simply installing the solar panels. I want to extend a shout out to the project team for the progress made to date against a tight construction deadline and the manner in which they addressed various challenges faced over the past few months, ranging from equipment delivery delays, labour issues to out-dated Eskom equipment. We are also proud of the manner in which we found solutions to work closely with the local community in utilizing local labour and allocating portions of the overall contract to the development of local black owned SME’s. Barring any material unforeseen circumstances, we are on tack to deliver a fully operational site of 4 MegaWatt before the end of February 2024;
- Malan Agri: Construction at the Malan Agri farm near Wellington is almost done and we expect to go live with this solar plant and battery backup system before the end of January 2024;
- Existing sites: Our existing sites are performing well apart from the Sunderland Ridge site where we are now replacing old inverters with new ones to improve optimal solar generation. The damages caused by a freak windstorm we previously reported on has also now been restored and we are fully operational again.
Final remarks:
And that is all from us for this year. It has been a challenging year with continued load-shedding and various other challenges, but we believe that the fund has gained significant growth and momentum over the past few months and we expect the new assets coming online in February 2024 to start making significant contributions from March 2024 onwards. As always, we appreciate your ongoing support. We wish you all a great holiday season and we will be in contact again soon in the new year.
If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Kind regards,
The Futureneers Energy and KSE Solar Team