Conference Schedule
Opening keynote: The Investment Case for African renewables – Why investors should look at Africa now
Africa has the world's largest potential for renewable energy but only receives less than 2% of global renewable energy investment. With so many underexploited opportunities, and an urgent need for renewable energy in Africa, several African countries have made tremendous regulatory updates to attract investment. This keynote will spell out the opportunities for investment in Africa's renewable energy sector, and the intricacies of developing projects in Africa, and why investors should start investing now.
The role of green hydrogen in the energy transition
Green Hydrogen presents a significant opportunity for an increased and accelerated deployment of renewables across Africa. It also presents a clean power alternative for industries that are difficult to electrify, such as steel production. This session will introduce the green hydrogen landscape in Africa, covering the potential for increased renewable deployment and industrial decarbonisation, market building across the continent, and the outlook for the future.
Investor perspectives on the bankability of green hydrogen projects
Hosted by GIZ South Africa’s H2.SA Green hydrogen projects require significant upfront investments, which is why project developers must decide early-on what type of finance and investor they would like to target, and how they intend to convince them. “Bankability'' is the key term that allows projects to access finance and reach financial close. In this session, different investors will provide their perspective on “bankability” in the green hydrogen sector.
Keynote Address: Eskom’s vision for SA’s Just Energy Transition
South Africa’s state-owned power utility plans to retire close to 10 GW of its coal power generation fleet and replace it with renewables. Eskom has identified a pipeline of ‘Just Energy Transition' projects and intends to secure financing with the R131 billion concessional funding raised from the international financiers who have committed to supporting the decarbonisation initiatives in developing countries, including South Africa. Andre de Ruyter will outline Eskom’s Just Energy Transition strategy and the opportunities for partnerships with investors.
Assessing the progress on South Africa’s Just Transition Partnership (JETP)
At UNFCCC COP26, the governments of U.K, France, Germany, U.S and the European Union signed the Just Transition Partnership (JETP) with South Africa where they pledged to mobilise $8.5 billion over the next 3-5 years to help accelerate the country’s energy transition. JETP’s objectives also include supporting South Africa’s pathway to a low carbon economy, and climate resilient society.
Renewable energy investment opportunities in Mozambique
Mozambique has vast potential for renewable energy. Creating a bankable pipeline of projects and racing investment is key to fostering the country’s energy transition. This session to showcase projects that have achieved financial close and deep dive into the policy framework, identifying barriers to investment and making recommendations for tackling them.
