Investing in everyone’s future

We help the world's energy transition

Our commitment is to a greener, more sustainable world

As one of the leading renewable energy developers, Solarcentury Africa (formerly Solarcentury) is actively cultivating the transition of energy from thermal energy technologies to exciting and new renewable energy technology solutions with the aim of curbing carbon emissions caused by burning carbon-rich fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas.

A commitment to sustainability underpins everything we do. Our parent company is BB Energy, a commodities trader. Solarcentury Africa sits under its renewable energy division, which seeks to drive BB Energy’s global renewable energy agenda. To date, Solarcentury Africa has developed, designed, installed, and delivered 19-multi-megawatt projects across seven African countries, all incorporating Solar PV and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).

We have a total of 980MW of renewable energy projects under active development with exclusive agreements, and an additional 4GW of solar projects in the pipeline. Solarcentury Africa is currently focused on solar projects in Africa. However, because of growing worldwide enquiries we will be launching another brand to reflect our global presence and allow us to focus on all forms of renewable projects beyond the continent.

As a pioneer in the solar power industry, we are committed to operating with transparency and integrity. Here, we outline some of the areas that make up our sustainability approach. They include our environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals.

Transforming communities

  • A 12MW off-grid solar and 8.5MW/8.5MWh BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) Project in Balama, Mozambique. It provides electrical power to TWIGG’s Balama Graphite Mine, owned and operated by Australian Syrah Resources. The off-grid solar power plant will reduce TWIGG’s 1.9 million litres of monthly diesel consumption and reduce Syrah’s daytime diesel cost by more than 70%.
  • The installation of roof-top solar systems for three public schools in and around Balama, as part of Solarcentury Africa’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) objective.
  • A 20MWp project in Namibia, near to the Gerus substation, is entering its construction phase. It will be Solarcentury Africa’s first merchant project, meaning we will be feeding power into the South African Power Pool (SAPP). This will benefit the wider region and improve energy security and sustainability.

Transparency and measurement

  • All solar power plants that were developed, designed, installed, and commissioned by Solarcentury Africa, have energy metering and control equipment such as energy meters, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), and Power Plant Controller (PPC), which measure, control, and regulate the power generation and consumption levels.
  • All our projects conform to local requirements for ESG as well as international standards. The international standards we meet are the International Finance Corporation (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability, which is the market standard for infrastructure projects such as ours.

Contributing to global goals

Our sustainability ambitions align with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have identified three goals where our work will have the most impact:


Africa has a power deficit, and an estimated 600 million people still live without a clean and reliable source of electricity. Our solutions, especially our merchant plants where we trade power onto the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) can help to improve this power deficit by providing more generation onto the regional grid networks.

A lack of reliable electricity is a key factor in restricting development. Our projects are designed to support a reliable supply of electricity in the countries we operate. This can help prevent issues such as load shedding or the interruption of electricity supplies, which can block sustainable development. By transitioning to solar we are enabling sustainable development which in turn will help the communities we are working with and enable economic growth, development and prosperity.

Solarcentury Africa’s projects are renewable based and are able to offset carbon emissions from thermal plants and fossil fuel consumption.

Our people and communities

Our team is key to our strength and although it is growing rapidly, maintaining the quality of our people is all important. Today we have presence in seven countries and expect to double our workforce by late 2025. We have skills development programme to uplift the skills of employees in their areas of expertise. We also do weekly training sessions where we share knowledge with each other and learn from the different departments within Solarcentury Africa. All our projects have a CSR programme, which is a non-profit objective aimed at improving the livelihood of the communities in which they operate.

Governance

Our commitment to ESG principles is embedded in our leadership structure. The Executive Committee (ExCo), comprising our CEO and key department heads, endeavours to ensure integration of ESG considerations into our corporate strategy. The ExCo convenes regularly to deliberate on vital strategic decisions that shape the trajectory of Solarcentury Africa. This dynamic forum ensures that our growth targets are not only met but exceeded, reflecting our dedication to sustainable business practices. The committee features representation from each department, thus guaranteeing a comprehensive array of viewpoints and perspectives in our decision-making processes. By fostering a collaborative leadership approach, we uphold the highest standards of governance and ethics.