Next Renewable Generation (NrG) hosted the next Business Breakfast on Friday, 15 September 2017. The 2nd event in the series, intended to provide clarity and information on navigating Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), boasted Alastair Campbell, Managing Director of Vantage’s GreenX fund, as a keynote speaker, and the NrG team as hosts.
The information session shed light on the topic of the Financial Aspects of private PPA’s and how they unlock value for private businesses. Alastair began by providing the context of South Africa’s grid energy mix and the costs of the various assets to both the utility and the end user, concluding with an outlook on the significant energy tariff increases that will be required in the next few years. In exploring the PPA as a potential mitigation to rising costs, the simple analogy of owning or leasing car was used to describe the merits purchasing energy over purchasing renewable energy assets themselves. Issues like the cost of ownership, outsourcing of non-core business activities and tax efficiencies were discussed.
Following Campbell’s address, the audience of private business owners and key stakeholders across the industrial, mining, and financial sectors participated a lively discussion. A debate around the regulatory framework, its constraints and enablers to private PPA’s, was guided by City Power’s Paul Vermeulen. Business owners posed questions around the long-term nature of a PPA in a dynamic economy. Ultimately, the session provided an open forum for deepening the understanding of PPA’s, and the discussions continued around tables at the breakfast that ensued.

NrG thanks all attendees for their engagement. If you would like to be included in future events or want to know more about private PPAs for your business, please e-mail info@nrgeneration.com