Cape Town, South Africa — February 2026: SOLA Group, one of South Africa’s leading independent power producers, has reached financial close on its Naos-1 Hybrid Solar and Battery Project and commenced construction — marking a watershed moment for the country’s private renewable energy sector.
The Naos-1 project comprises a 300 MW (435 MWp) solar PV facility paired with 660 MWh of battery energy storage, enabled by long-term power purchase agreements with industrial giants Sasol and Air Liquide.
It is the largest privately contracted hybrid renewable energy project to reach financial close in South Africa to date, and the first of its kind purpose-built to wheel dispatchable clean energy to private end-users across the national grid.
Located near Viljoenskroon in the Free State, the project was financed through a multi-lender process led by the Development Bank of Southern Africa as the largest senior debt provider, alongside Nedbank, RMB, Investec and Absa, with equity financing provided by RMB and Sanlam.
The project is 100% South African owned.
A New Model for Industrial Energy Procurement
What sets Naos-1 apart from conventional solar projects is its hybrid design. By storing solar energy during the day and dispatching it when the grid needs it most, the project offers its offtakers a reliable supply of clean energy at competitive tariffs — directly addressing one of the long-standing limitations of traditional solar: the inability to meet peak evening demand.
The project is supported by 25-year power purchase agreements with Sasol and Air Liquide, two of South Africa’s largest industrial energy consumers.
Katherine Persson, Managing Director of SOLA Assets, said the milestone reflects the company’s execution strength.
“After a much accelerated Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) negotiation process, reaching Financial Close on schedule for a project of this scale, novelty, and complexity is a further demonstration of SOLA’s unrivalled track record in delivering clean energy to our partners on time and to budget.”
For Sasol, the project is central to its decarbonisation agenda. “This project forms part of our broader transformation strategy towards a low-carbon energy portfolio and this 300 MW is a key milestone in advancing our transition towards a sustainable future,” said Dr Sarushen Pillay, Executive Vice President of Sasol’s Business Building, Strategy and Technology
A Pipeline That Signals Ambition
Naos-1 is just the beginning of SOLA Group’s hybrid energy push.
The company has a further 600 MW of similar hybrid solar and battery projects at an advanced stage of development, and with more than 1 GW of projects in operation and under construction, SOLA positions itself at the forefront of modernising and decarbonising South Africa’s power system.
Jonathan Skeen, Managing Director Commercial at SOLA Group, said the project reflects the company’s longer-term target of achieving 2 GW of solar power and 5 GWh of storage by 2030.
Looking Ahead
Construction is currently underway, with commercial operation targeted for the first half of 2028.
When complete, Naos-1 will serve as a benchmark for utility-scale solar-plus-storage wheeling to private end-users — and a signal to the broader market that large-scale, dispatchable, privately financed renewable energy in South Africa is not only viable, but accelerating.
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