Aug 165 min read

Review ：Solar Energy Storage Future South Africa 2024

Updated: Nov 12

Solar Energy Storage Future South Africa 2024 concluded with huge success paving the way for more advanced and prosperous solar future in Africa.

The one-day event organized by Energy Box was held in Cape Town on 23rd July. The conference invited representatives from the South African power companies and leading companies with the most development experience and investment intentions to share the region's solar energy and energy storage project development strategies and market structures, revolutionary technology trends in the industry, available financing options, etc., focusing on South Africa's energy transformation path, and jointly analyze the strong momentum of future solar energy and energy storage market development, including its cutting-edge trends in the new energy market.

The event kicked off with keynote speech by Francis Jackson, Specialist at Energy Council of South Africa. In his speech, he mentioned that the partnership between the South African government and enterprises is successfully accelerating market confidence, reform and growth. The two major drivers of South Africa's energy investment and energy transformation are: grid expansion and market reform.

The event’s first panel discussion was held on “How to Ensure the best ROI for Solar & Energy Storage Asset?.”

The speakers were:

Sherrill Byrne, Executive, Project Finance, Energy and Infrastructure Finance， Standard Bank Group
Julien Verzier, Business Development Executive, ACES Africa
Tshegofatso Sekgwele， Investment Associate， AIIM
Jonathan Frick, Business Development Director, Globeleq Africa Limited
Noluthando Yeni, Project Finance Specialist at EDF Renewables (South Africa)
James Fisher, Managing Director at Blue Sun Energy Solutions

The session was moderated by Bruce Makolana, Renewable Energy Engineer, Harmattan Renewables.

It was followed by presentation from Faye Liu, Director at GS ENERGY

Faye Liu introduced in detail about GS Energy's various series of household energy storage batteries, household storage cases in Canada, the Netherlands, Australia and South Africa, and demonstrated the advantages of GS Energy's household solar storage and charging solutions: high integration density, safety and reliability, high efficiency and flexibility, intelligence and ease of use, etc.

Following this, the event featured another panel discussion on “CEO Panel: The Role of RE in Easing SA Electricity Crisis ” The Speakers were:

JOHAN PIENAAR，CEO，Eversolar
Kaloyan Dimov, CEO, Solar MD
Heine Herholdt, CEO, Herholdt's Group
Jonathan Matheson, CEO, MetSolar (Pty) Ltd
Saul Wainwright, CEO, SunExchange

The session was moderated by Teri Kruger ,Founder, Synergetics Sustainable Solutions.

Following the CEO session, the event had a special presentation by Bertus Schreuder, Sales Director South Africa，Seraphim Energy on “Technology Innovation & Supply Chain Sustainability”

He mentioned that in order to adapt to diverse application scenarios, Seraphim's leading R&D technology has created a new product line to meet the needs of various customers. Seraphim has invested a lot of resources in material testing and module development, and its internal laboratories have successively obtained seven authorization certifications from seven international third-party authoritative organizations.

By the end of 2023, Seraphim has achieved a global shipment of 30GW+, with products exported to more than 100 countries, and has been rated as a “ Tier-1 component supplier."

This was followed by another panel discussion session on “ IPP&PPA Development in SA:Current Status and Future Potential". Panelists were:

Glynn Morris, Senior Business Developer, Broadreach Energy
Bart Haverkamp, Managing Director Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Enernet Global
Dustin Rebello, Head of Business Development, ENERTRAG South Africa
René Laks, Country General Manager, CVE (Changing Visions of Energy)
Lee Smith, Head of Renewables Sub-Saharan Africa at ABL Group
Adam Griffin, Commercial Director - South Africa, Norsk Renewables

The session was moderated by Zaeem Soofie, Partner - Head of Energy & ESG at Dentons.

Following this, another panel discussion was focused on PV projects entitled “Opportunities and Challenges of PV Projects in South Africa.” Stephen Murefu， Community Operations Manager, EIMS Africa, moderated the session.

Panelists were:

Matthew J. Cruise , Energy Expert and head of Business Development at Forest Energy
Stuart Fredman, Managing Director at Rhino Energy Solutions
Dayne Sage， MD，Emergent Energy
Lebogang Langa， General Manager at Romano Solar
Thiresan Alwar， DAS Solar

Following the panel discussion, Janet at Risen Energy delivered a special presentation on “More Benefits &Less Carbon Emission——Hyper-ion HJT Products Sales book V5.5”She discussed the advantages of Hyper-ion HJT: lower BOS cost, lower LCOE, higher IRR, less floor space, etc.

As a world-leading new energy company, Risen Energy leads the global energy innovation, provides new energy green solutions and integrated services to the world, and continuously helps customers achieve "low-carbon" or "zero-carbon" goals through its products, helping the entire society enter the carbon neutral era.

It was followed by Technology panel discussion on “Technology Choices and Their Role in Making Solar Energy Storage Projects More Appetising”moderated by Prince Kuimba, Technical Lead, Phelan Green Energy. The esteemed speakers were:

Gabriel Kroes，Head Of Engineering， IMPOWER PTY LTD
Patrick Narbel, Co-founder and CTO, GoSolr
Prenesen Govender， Head of Engineering Southern Africa at Enel Green Power
Hervé Nsumba， Head of Engineering & Construction， NEOSUN Energy
Larry Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer, ArioGenix
Gilles Dumont, Head of Business Development at juwi Group

Following this, another panel discussion was focused on Supply Chain entitled “Accelerating the Energy Transition with a More Completed Supply Chain.” T.B. Mlilo, Managing Director, Moahi Sustainable Solutions, moderated the session.

After this, the event featured another panel discussion on “Is Bulk Energy Storage a Better Way to Addressing Shortages?” The Speakers were:

Leonidas Hanos, Business Development Manager, IBC SOLAR South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Tshepo Tshivhasa, Head of Grid Engineering, EDF Renewables
Matthew Silvester, Development Director at Enernet Global
Davin Chown, Managing Director, GENESIS ECO-ENERGY DEVELOPMENTS
Daniel Goldstuck，Chief Commercial Officer， Sustain Energy Group
Federico Zanotta Rizzo, General Manager, Abengoa
Daniël Willemse, Product Engineer, candi solar

The session was moderated by Nicola Cencelli , Senior Business Development Manager , JUWI Renewables South Africa.

Likewise, the final panel discussion of the conference was focused on “Integrate ESG, and Build a Sustainable Future for Enterprises, which was moderated by Muller Ernst，Director ESG (EMEA) at Herbert Smith Freehills

Panelists were:

Vincent Obisie-Orlu, Natural Resource Governance and ESG Researcher, Good Governance Africa
Cuma Dube，Senior ESG Specialist， Six Capitals ESG Advisory
Honey Mamabolo， Founder and CEO，CEIVE AFRICA GROUP (PTY) LTD Chrysanthemum Roki, Investment & ESG Analyst at Skybound Capital Group
Paula‑Ann Novotny， Partner，Webber Wentzel

On the occasion, Energy Box hosted a special awarding ceremony, where different companies and individuals were honored for their significant contributions to the renewable industry in South Africa.

Heine Herholdt，CEO of the Year