The first national Bank says “Load shedding, increasing energy costs, and climate change are the three drivers behind South African businesses increasingly turning towards alternative energy solutions in 2021.”
The head of alternative energy solutions of FNB Business Kyle Durham said:
the bank’s alternative energy solutions division has seen a significant increase in demand for renewable energy solutions, with Solar PV being the most popular.
Kyle Durham also said: “for every R1 million that the bank has funded in terms of generators, it has funded more than R5 million in renewable energy projects; a ratio of 1:5”.
“As at December 2020, we have funded approximately 20MW of renewable energy infrastructure for our business customers and of these, approximately 5MW relates to agricultural and secondary agricultural customers,” he said.
“Despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bank is projecting a significant increase in alternative energy funded solutions by the end of the year. Admittedly, it is off a low base, but momentum is growing faster and beyond any expectations we had for this year,” he said.
Durham added that the increased interest in alternative energy solutions is not limited to the banking sector.
“When we talk to the industry, they are confirming increased demand for alternative energy solutions.
“One of our customers in the industry reported that in the first three months of their current financial year, the company turnover exceeded the turnover figure for the previous 12 months,” he said.
“Recent analysis suggests that this could unlock up to 5,000 MW of additional capacity and help to ease the impact of load shedding,” the president said in his State of the Nation address.