Magnora doubles South African wind and solar portfolio to 1.7GW

Norwegian developer Magnora is acquiring 92% of South African wind and solar project development company African Green Ventures (AGV), which will effectively double its portfolio in the country to close to 1.7GW.

The remaining 8% will be owned by AGV management, and Magnora simultaneously is selling its shares in the Vindr green field development joint venture.

AGV holds project rights of more than 800MW of wind and solar PV projects after recently signing land lease option agreements, which will be added to Magnora's existing portfolio of 850MW.

"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,” Magnora chief executive Erik Sneve said.

“AGV's approach to sourcing attractive projects is complementary to our methods and capabilities, and we look forward to having them as a part of the Magnora team."

More than 80% of South Africa’s current power generation comes from coal, but 10GW of coal-fired capacity is expected to be decommissioned by 2030, the Norwegian developer said, making the country attractive solar, wind and storage technologies.

According to South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan from 2019, new capacity to be added between 2019 and 2030 includes 14.4GW of onshore wind and 6GW of solar PV, which might increase further to replace decommissioned coal power plants, the developer 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 organisation will prove to be key to develop Magnora South Africa in the coming years,” said Torstein Sanness, executive chairman of Magnora.