Kibo Energy Plc has joined forces with Hasta Trust to co-develop a portfolio of long-duration energy storage projects in South Africa, initially targeting 36.3 GWh of capacity. The projects are owned by National Broadband Solutions (NBS), a subsidiary of Hasta. Kibo Energy said in a bourse filing on Monday that work on the schemes will be undertaken via an exclusive agreement with Hasta Trust. Under the deal, Kibo Energy will acquire a 51% stake in NBS, while granting its partner exclusive access to its strategic capabilities and capacity related to the provision of long-duration storage solutions. The renewables developer will have the right to appoint three directors to the board of NBS.
The target portfolio will serve South African industrial sectors that have been negatively affected by a recent load shedding initiative of national utility Eskom, aimed at coping with the continued shortage of generation capacity. Kibo Energy noted that the collaboration aligns with its strategy to integrate long-duration energy storage into its commercial project pipeline.