- Industry leaders gather in Cape Town for networking and discussion on South Africa evolving power market.
- SMA Altenso expands African presence with new subsidiary focused on BESS and green hydrogen.
- Company targets growing demand for utility scale clean energy solutions across Sub Saharan Africa.
SMA Altenso Africa last week hosted developers, financiers and energy sector stakeholders at its Cape Town office for the latest edition of its signature First Thursday networking event.
Held against the backdrop of sunset views over Table Mountain and following the recent Energy Indaba, the evening created a relaxed setting for industry engagement and discussion around the rapidly evolving power sector in South Africa.
The gathering brought together partners and clean tech players from across the value chain to exchange insights on the opportunities emerging as the country moves toward a more open and renewable driven electricity market.
Energy analyst Chris Yelland delivered the keynote address, sparking wide ranging discussion on the structural reforms underway in the power sector.
Yelland explored developments around the unbundling of Eskom and concerns about the pace of reform, highlighting ongoing debates about protecting existing revenue streams while enabling market liberalisation.
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He also referenced comments made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during the State of the Nation Address, where the independence of the transmission network from the state utility was emphasised as a critical step toward restructuring the electricity sector.
The keynote further examined the growing role of battery storage at medium voltage levels in both transmission and distribution networks. Topics such as electricity wheeling, energy trading in a wholesale market environment and the increasing demand for private and public private partnership renewable energy projects were also discussed.
Image credit: SMA Altenso
With South Africa and the broader Sub Saharan region approaching a turning point in the development of a liberalised electricity market and the anticipated launch of the South African Wholesale Electricity Market, participants agreed that collaboration between industry, finance and government will be critical.
SMA Altenso used the event to highlight the expanding role of its newly established African subsidiary.
The company is a subsidiary of SMA Solar Technology AG, the German power electronics manufacturer with more than four decades of experience in inverter technology. Altenso focuses on large scale system integration, particularly battery energy storage systems and green hydrogen power solutions.
Globally the company has delivered or is implementing more than 1.5 GW of energy storage capacity and over 1 GW of hydrogen related power projects. It also develops its own projects and has successfully originated and sold assets across the European energy market.
With the launch of Altenso Africa (Pty) Ltd in South Africa, the company aims to expand its large-scale energy solutions business across Sub Saharan Africa.
The regional subsidiary will support both industrial and utility scale developments, offering services that include full system integration, project development and customised solutions for markets facing grid instability and rising electricity demand.
Altenso Africa also opens the door to further expansion of the company BESS activities. The company plans to prioritise the deployment of battery storage projects and pilot advanced technologies designed to improve energy reliability in regions with weak grid infrastructure.
Leveraging SMA technologies such as grid forming capabilities, inertia provision and black start functionality, the company aims to support the integration of higher shares of renewable energy into African power systems.
The expansion into South Africa signals Altenso commitment to supporting decarbonisation and accelerating the rollout of renewable energy infrastructure across emerging markets.
For enquiries, please email the Altenso team in Cape Town at: Africa@SMA-Altenso.com
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
