- In terms of Section 11 of the Electricity Regulation Act, 2006 (Act No. 4 of 2006); Investec Bank Limited (Investec) has applied for a licence with the National Energy Regulator (NERSA) to trade electricity.
- Subject to the approval of NERSA, these trading activities will be conducted over Eskom’s transmission and distribution networks.
Investec Bank Limited (ICIB) will buy power from the Illikwa Solar PV Facility, located near Parys, Free State Province, South Africa. Investec Bank Limited (ICIB) will sell and supply power to Investec Bank Limited (facilities), located at 100 Grayston Drive, Sandown, Sandton, Johannesburg, 2196, Gauteng, South Africa.
The licence application form is available for inspection at Sandton Public Library, Nelson Mandela Square, West St, Rivonia Rd, &, Sandton, 2146, South Africa.
All interested parties and/or any member of the public may lodge written objections with NERSA, within 30 days from the date of this publication.
Investec holds a 30% equity stake in the Illikwa project and has been instrumental in its development, providing both pre-construction development finance and debt and equity financing for the plant’s construction. The remaining 70% is held by Mainstream Renewable Power. Construction of the 50 MW solar PV plant has commenced, with commercial operations expected to begin in early 2026.
Tax fraud
Investec is complicit in one of the biggest tax fraud cases the banking world has seen. In its last two annual reports, Investec announced financial provisions to cover potential ‘outflows’, including penalties arising from its involvement in allegedly fraudulent ‘cum-ex’ transactions, but the bank is using an ‘extremely rare’ accounting rule to hide the potential scale of the damage.
AmaBhungane has reported extensively on information suggesting Investec’s complicity in massive tax fraud here, here and here.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
