Fibon partners with Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management

Johannesburg - Even the most ambitious plans will come to nothing without sufficient capital. Leading renewable energy company Fibon, given access to deep sources of capital by its partnership agreement with Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management, is on track to make its strategy a reality.

Fibon, a key South African player over the past 12 years in developing and constructing behind-the-meter solar power projects, is currently expanding to encompass an exciting range of renewable energy products and offerings. These include:

• Construction of its own 100MWp solar power plant, scheduled for completion in 2026
• Registration to offer carbon credits, becoming the first South African company to do so – and opening the way for other renewable energy companies to also benefit through a carbon offsetting aggregation project
• Offering wheeling, an electricity provision model leveraging Eskom infrastructure that is finally being made possible by the unbundling of the utility into generation, transmission and distribution units
• Financing turnkey energy projects using a model that is much faster, more cost-effective and better suited to the renewable energy sector than conventional banks' funding offerings – and that can also harness the benefits of Fibon's carbon credit and wheeling options
• Expansion into wind energy, battery energy storage systems (BESS) and energy trading, as well as carbon removal projects

Fibon CEO Avesh Padayachee says that its partnership with Westbrooke Alternative Asset Management is vital for the company to achieve its wide-ranging strategic goals in behind-the-meter solar and battery projects and propel it to the forefront of the South African renewable energy sector.

"We have created an exceptional, expert team to make our dreams for a sustainable energy future for South Africa a reality, and over the past dozen years we have painstakingly built the required capacity and experience. The time has come to make our wider strategy happen, and we are delighted that Westbrooke shares our vision and has come on board with us," he says.

Through its Renewable Energy Alternative strategy, Westbrooke's dynamic funding transaction with Fibon provided essential capital to 11 solar power and BESS projects for the financial year ending 29 February 2024.

In the financial year ending 28 February 2025, Fibon will oversee 15MWp of solar and BESS projects worth more than R175-million. The construction of its solar power plant will bring its assets under management to over R1-billion, which will be funded by commercial lenders and institutional investors.

Westbrooke Fund Manager Saul Maserow says that the asset manager's Renewable Energy Alternative strategy has been developed to assist partners such as Fibon expedite the transition to green energy in South Africa.

"Working with Fibon over the past year has been a great start to what we believe will be a successful partnership, as we continue to support the business with capital to deliver on its project pipeline and growth ambitions," Maserow says.

Padayachee concludes by saying that Fibon's strategic partnership with Westbrooke is a game-changer not only for his company, but for South Africa – in particular the corporate and industrial sectors that Fibon primarily serves.

"By providing our direct customers, as well as engineering, procurement and construction businesses in the renewable energy sector, with the green energy, carbon offsetting, wheeling and financing resources they need, we and Westbrooke are able to play our part in building a sustainable, productive and prosperous future for South Africa," Padayachee says.

"And that is something to be particularly proud of."