Globeleq and African Rainbow Energy advance 612MWh BESS project

Globeleq and African Rainbow Energy have advanced the development of the 153 MW/612 megawatt hours (MWh) Red Sands battery energy storage system (BESS) in South Africa.

The parties have reached commercial close by signing project agreements with the Department of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA).

The 5-hectare Red Sands BESS will be located in Northern Cape and will be the largest standalone BESS plant in Africa to reach commercial close.

It represents a major advancement for South Africa’s power infrastructure, promising to alleviate transmission and distribution bottlenecks while bolstering grid stability across the region.

The pivotal project was designated as a preferred bidder under South Africa’s government-led battery energy storage independent power producer programme back in 2024.

Globeleq CEO Jonathan Hoffman stated: “Commercial close on the Red Sands BESS is a landmark moment for Globeleq and for battery storage in Africa. It highlights our ability to deliver large-scale, clean energy infrastructure that meets the continent’s evolving power needs. Building on over a decade of renewable energy leadership in South Africa and our Cuamba solar-plus-storage plant in Mozambique, we’re integrating battery storage across our portfolio to support resilient, low-carbon power systems across Africa.”

By storing excess electricity during low-demand periods and releasing it when demand peaks, Red Sands BESS aims to facilitate smoother management of power flows within NTCSA’s network. The installation will also offer critical ancillary services essential for maintaining grid integrity.

African Rainbow Energy is a renewable energy platform owned by African Rainbow Energy and Power and Absa Bank.

African Rainbow Energy CEO Brian Dames stated: “The investment in Red Sands, in partnership with Globeleq, supports our objective to utilise modern and renewable energy technologies to provide affordable electricity in South Africa and on the African continent, whilst uplifting communities. This investment also marks the substantial progress of the R3 billion commitment we have made as part of the South African investment drive.”

Owned by British International Investment and Norway’s development finance institution Norfund, Globeleq develops, own and operates electricity generation in Africa.

The company built a portfolio of independent power plants, generating 1,794MW in 17 locations across seven countries since 2002. An additional 485MW are in construction and more than 2GW of power projects are in development.