South African integrated renewable energy company, NOA Group, has announced that its subsidiary, NOA Group Trading (Pty) Ltd, has been granted its long-awaited energy trading licence by National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA). NOA told Renew Africa that it received approval from NERSA during the regulator’s Executive Committee Meeting on 31 January 2025.
The licence will enable NOA Trading to aggregate renewable energy from IPP-owned power generation facilities across South Africa and supply it to its customers across the country.
Energy aggregation offers customers greater flexibility by allowing customers access to a mix of utility scale solar PV, wind and battery storage from multiple generation facilities without the complexity of contracting with multiple generators, or requiring offtakers to justify a generation facility dedicated to their own consumption.
“We believe that increased participation in the energy market will benefit the country as a whole while delivering significant contributions to commercial and industrial energy consumers in South Africa, which is particularly important in the face of global pressure to decarbonise and remain cost competitive,” said Karel Cornelissen, CEO, NOA Group.
“Our trading licence allows us to procure power from trusted independent power producers, alongside our own generation fleet and wheel this electricity to Eskom and municipal-connected customers nationwide”.
Energy trading to increase renewables deployment
According to NOA, energy trading and aggregation will support the deployment of renewable energy projects in high-yield areas, maximising generation potential and improving energy security, while meeting a critical need for green electrons and cost saving for its customers through increased competition and customer choice.
The first agreements concluded under NOA Trading’s new licence are two Generator Power Purchase Agreements (GPPA) for 140 MW and 94.5MW wind projects. Under these long-term agreements, NOA Trading will purchase power from the wind farm and supply a portfolio of large and small customers through a blend of flexible energy supply arrangements.
By enabling trading entities to procure additional energy from new generation facilities, this model helps Eskom reduce generation costs while contributing to grid strengthening, transmission, and distribution development. These benefits are further supported by self-build agreements between Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and the state utility.
“NOA Trading is now positioned to serve a national customer base, aggregating demand across the electricity supply sector. In line with the ERA, traders are licenced without geographic limitations, signalling a transition to a more open, competitive, and liberalised energy market consistent with global regulations, including EU legislation, where trading activities are not restricted to specific locations or customer groups,” concluded Cornelissen.
