The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is set to significantly increase its renewable energy investment programme, aiming to support projects that will generate a total of 1,400 megawatts, according to Bloomberg.
This expansion involves doubling the current capacity of its Embedded Generation Investment Programme, which is currently financing facilities capable of producing 700 megawatts.
Launched in 2019 with an initial funding of $200 million, partially from the Green Climate Fund, the programme aims to secure additional support from commercial banks.
It focuses on funding renewable energy plants built by companies for their own consumption.
The DBSA also plans to establish an office dedicated to managing auctions for transmission projects within the national grid, pending approval from the new National Transmission Company South Africa.
This step is crucial for addressing the limitations of the current transmission infrastructure, which has been hindering energy generation rollouts. The bank will advance its efforts to attract private investment for South Africa’s national transmission grid.
Unlike its previous initiatives, such as the Independent Power Producer Office, the DBSA intends to develop transmission solutions without relying on state guarantees. Discussions with the World Bank are underway to explore "credit enhancement mechanisms" to support these efforts.
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