Exxaro Resources has agreed to acquire majority stakes in two fully operational renewable energy projects from Spanish group Acciona Energía in a transaction valued at between R1.7 billion and R1.8 billion, marking the coal heavyweight’s most significant step yet towards becoming a diversified energy and minerals champion.
The deal, executed through Exxaro’s wholly owned renewable subsidiary Cennergi Holdings, will immediately add 117MW of net attributable capacity to the group’s clean-energy portfolio, lifting Cennergi’s operational footprint from 200MW to around 317MW. Once projects currently under construction come online, Cennergi’s total net capacity is projected to approach 500MW.
The assets in question are cornerstone facilities from Bid Window 2 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). They comprise the 138MW Gouda Wind Farm near Drakenstein in the Western Cape and the 75MW Sishen Solar Photovoltaic Plant adjacent to Exxaro’s own iron-ore operations in the Northern Cape. Both sell electricity to Eskom under 20-year take-or-pay power purchase agreements backed by National Treasury guarantees, delivering the kind of predictable, inflation-linked cash flows that have become prized in an industry still grappling with load-shedding and commodity volatility.
As reported by Engineering News, the acquisition price implies an enterprise value of roughly R8 million per megawatt – a premium to recent secondary-market transactions but justified by the projects’ proven performance, remaining 14-year PPA life and the inclusion of the specialist operation-and-maintenance company that services both sites.
The move dovetails with Exxaro’s publicly stated ambition to reposition itself as a “minerals and energy company for a low-carbon future”. Having already shed non-core coal assets and trimmed its thermal-coal exposure, the group is now aggressively scaling its renewables platform while retaining exposure to energy-transition metals such as manganese and copper. According to the company’s latest integrated report, Cennergi contributed R1.2 billion in Ebitda in 2024 on an investment base of just R4 billion – a return profile that comfortably outstrips many traditional mining operations.
Funding will come from Exxaro’s robust balance sheet, with R11 billion in cash and undrawn facilities at the half-year mark providing ample headroom. Standard Bank and Absa Corporate and Investment Banking acted as financial advisers on the transaction.
Closing is expected in the first half of 2026, subject to Competition Commission and South African Reserve Bank approvals. The deal arrives at a time when secondary-market renewable transactions are gathering pace: the REIPPPP pipeline has largely matured, and original developers are crystallising gains after a decade of operation, creating opportunities for well-capitalised buyers like Exxaro, Scatec, and the growing cohort of yield-hungry infrastructure funds.
For Exxaro shareholders, the acquisition offers more than just portfolio diversification. The treasury-backed revenue stream provides a natural hedge against coal-price cyclicality and positions the group to capitalise on South Africa’s accelerating energy transition. With private-sector renewable procurement now exceeding 7GW of signed agreements and the grid queue still clogged, owning operating assets with locked-in offtake has rarely looked more attractive.
In a single stroke, Exxaro has vaulted from renewable newcomer to one of the country’s largest independent clean-energy producers – a transformation that began with the 2014 creation of Cennergi and is now unmistakably hitting stride.