SolarAfrica closes ~$285M financing for 342MW SunCentral solar phase
What's the deal? SolarAfrica Energy has completed financing for the first phase of its SunCentral solar project in South Africa, backed by InvestecDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Bank and Rand Merchant Bank (RMB)Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The three facilities that make up the phase total 342MW of capacity and required roughly R5 billion in development financing.
How it came together: SunCentral 1 secured R1.8 billion in late 2024, SunCentral 2 reached financial close at R1.5 billion in February 2026, and SunCentral 3 closed in August with funding from RMBDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Investec Bank. SolarAfrica began construction at the site, between Hanover and De Aar, in June 2024.
What's the endgame? SolarAfrica plans to expand SunCentral to 1GW of generation capacity. It has already started Phase 2 through SunCentral 4, and later phases could pair solar with battery storage to supply power beyond daylight hours.
Who it serves: A new Main Transmission Substation, built for R1.35 billion, connects the project to the national grid and lets it supply multiple buyers. Customers span automotive companies, mining operations, data centres, manufacturers, retailers, and corporate parks — removing reliance on a single offtaker.
Where things stand: SunCentral 1 reached the threshold for commercial operation in late August. SolarAfrica expects first power from the wider phase in the second half of the year.
The signal: At 342MW, the first phase will provide almost twice the capacity of Solar Capital De AarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, currently South Africa's largest solar farm — a sign of how corporate power demand is driving private generation at utility scale.
Read more: africa-energy-portal.org
Image credit: usarmywach
