BioTherm Energy has rebranded to BTE Renewables

South African renewable energy independent power producer, BioTherm Energy, has rebranded to BTE Renewables, the company announced this week. The rebranding comes after BTE Renewables successfully brought online four renewable energy IPP projects over the past year, a great feat considering the slow-down effect of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The company is majority owned by Actis, a leading global emerging markets investment firm focused on the private equity, energy, infrastructure, and real estate asset classes. 

“We have officially rebranded from BioTherm Energy to BTE Renewables – a re-brand that stands as an acknowledgment of our successes of the past with a clear focus on the future,” the company announced in a LinkedIn post.

BTE Renewables has a renewable energy portfolio that extends across South Africa’s borders into Kenya where its fifth renewable energy asset was connected to the grid in January of this year. Thebe Investment Corporation (TIC), has a 37.5% stake in four of BTE Renewables’s projects in South Africa.

The renewable energy developer’s 100MW Kipeto Wind farm in the southwest of Nairobi, Kenya is the East African country’s second largest wind farm. 

Some of BTE Renewables projects in South Africa

Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility:

The Golden Valley wind energy facility is a 120MW onshore wind project, the facility reached commercial operations in Q2 of 2021. The wind farm consists of 48 2.5MW Gold Wind permanent magnetic direct drive turbines. The facility is located within the Blue Crane Route Local Municipality, within the Sarah Baartman District Municipality.

Konkoonsies II solar PV:

The Konkoonsies II solar energy facility is a 86 MW solar PV project. The project is situated near the small town of Pofadder, in the Khai Ma Local Municipality, within the Namakwa District Municipality, in the Northern Cape Province.  The project was awarded preferred bidder status under the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPPPP) bid window 4 in 2015. 

This facility consists of 250,160 single axis tracking polycrystalline silicon PV modules and covers 215.57 hectares. The project reached its commercial operations date in September 2020 and generated  216.5 GWh per annum, generating enough energy to supply an estimated 35,000 homes in South Africa with clean, sustainable electricity. 

The Excelsior wind energy facility:

The Excelsior wind energy facility is a 32.5MW facility  located 30km southwest of the town of Swellendam, within the Swellendam Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province. The project comprises 13 GoldWind 2.5MW permanent magnetic direct drive turbines. The project covers an area of 2,300ha and once operational, it will be generating over 132GWh of renewable power each year, enough to power 16,000 households.