Rand Merchant Bank has acquired a 25% stake in Remgro-owned Ubiquity Energy, the holding company of Energy Exchange of Southern Africa, a licensed electricity trader offering corporate customers with an alternative source of electricity generated by independent power producers.

Energy Exchange connects South African companies to privately produced, renewable energy, allowing them to meet their decarbonisation goals while providing bespoke energy profiles that match their consumption requirements.

Buyers rely on a blend of different sources of electricity, including wind, solar, biomass and hydro, to create a tailored energy profile, rather than just relying on a single source. The electricity tariffs charged by Energy Exchange are competitive and escalate in line with inflation, providing a predictable and stable cost estimate for companies.

The value of the RMB purchase was not disclosed.

Critical

RMB principal investments “transactor” Philip de Villiers said in a statement that the provision of sustainable, privately produced power is critical to solving South Africa’s energy challenges, but that it is also a fast-evolving and complex industry. The South African market requires a material shift in the way electricity is produced, sold and consumed, and will need bold thinking and innovative solutions, he said.