Pinsent Masons advises SOLA Group on renewable energy Power Purchase Agreement

The projects see Tronox enter into long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with SOLA Group which will provide 200 Megawatts of solar power to Tronox’s mines and smelters across the country. Via the PPAs, the solar projects are expected to provide approximately 40% of Tronox’s South African electricity needs.

A team from Pinsent Masons was led by Johannesburg-based legal director Emma Roberts, project finance partner Apicksha Patel, construction partner Jurg van Dyk, property legal director Nayna Cara and energy and environmental legal director Adam Gunn.

Commenting on the project Emma Roberts, said: “As South African grapples with supply and demand challenges, projects such as Tronox’s PPA with SOLA will play a vital role in safeguarding our energy market and supporting the country’s just energy transition. As the regulatory environment shifts, we anticipate a groundswell of PPA activity as other businesses across the country explore viable options to boost supply via renewable sources.”

The projects which achieved financial close on 9 September 2022, are expected to be fully operational in early 2024.

Director and co-founder at SOLA Group, Chris Haw, said: “We are delighted to see that large scale energy consumers like Tronox are making use of the opportunity to convert to clean and cost-effective energy. These types of projects are the fastest way to bring new generation capacity online and not only contribute to closing the electricity supply gap in our country, but also support the much-needed transition to clean energy and modernization of our electricity grid.”