….. South African electricity trading business now fully funded

Chariot Limited has announced that Etana Energy (Pty) Limited, the South African electricity trading platform, has secured a US$55million (R1billion) guarantee finance facility alongside an equity investment of up to US$20million (R372million) from Standard Bank and Norfund. Standard Bank is the largest bank in Africa and Norfund is a Norwegian state investment fund focused on developing countries.

Etana is owned by Chariot (49%) and H1 Holdings (Pty) Limited (51%) (Ordinary Shareholders) and is focused on providing competitive, sustainable end-to-end energy solutions through the connecting of power generation projects to commercial and industrial users by wheeling electricity across South Africa’s national grid.

Transaction highlights:

• US$55million of guarantee finance from Standard Bank on behalf of Etana, in addition to the US$100million secured from British International Investment and GuarantCo, previously announced on 4 December 2024, unlocks new renewable projects by providing developers with the revenue certainty needed to reach financial close and commence construction

• Up to US$20million equity investment to support Etana’s growth and working capital requirements through to its first revenues

• Standard Bank and Norfund, in return for the guarantee and equity finance, are to be issued  reference share capital in Etana which will give them an effective economic interest of 10% and 20% respectively. The preference share capital is redeemable at the option of the Ordinary Shareholders

• Funding package has enabled the first financial close of a solar generation project, the Mulilo 75MW Du Plessis Dam, with further renewable projects anticipated to close in the near term

Adonis Pouroulis, CEO of Chariot, commented: “With this financing, we welcome two further significant institutions, Standard Bank and Norfund, into the Etana business, a company which we co-founded. This transaction provides balance sheet support and equity investment that will unlock further generation projects, fund rapid, scalable growth, and lead to material revenues fromEtana and potential future direct participation in generation projects. This clearly endorses the value that we see within the electricity trading platform which is looking to provide much needed long term, cleaner and competitive energy across South Africa.”