South Africa has launched a loan guarantee scheme to support commercial and industrial solar projects. The plan aims to deploy 1 GW of rooftop PV capacity in South Africa.
The South African National Treasury has launched the Energy Bounce (EBB) Loan Guarantee Scheme, designed to support the deployment of commercial and industrial photovoltaic systems.
Businesses can access solar-related loans with a 20% first loss guarantee from the South African Reserve Bank.
"The EBB aims to add 1,000 MW of additional generation capacity and improve load shedding resiliency for micro and informal businesses," the South African authority said.
Electricity storage assets such as batteries and inverters, despite not having direct generation capacity, are the primary measure of resilience.
The scheme will operate through three different mechanisms: loan guarantees for SMEs; loan guarantees for energy service companies (ESCOs); and working capital loans for businesses in the rooftop solar supply chain.
Companies participating in the scheme must have a turnover of no more than 300 million rand (US$15.9 million) and a borrowing limit of no more than 10 million rand. The program will end on August 30, 2024.