Touted as a much-needed solution for small businesses and households that have suffered through South Africa’s 15 years of erratic power supply woes, the government’s entry into the solar funding fray has come a little too late, experts say.
Doubtful on whether it has the potential to deliver a meaningful impact, Cronje said the scheme’s success lies in how long it will be sustained. Speaking to Moneyweb, Krutham’s Peter Attard Montalto said the new scheme alongside the tax rebate scheme is positive overall, but he sounded caution about the scale of additional impact.
“However, we already forecast about 3GW of new PV [photovoltaic] this year and next by households anyway. We don’t see this meaningful increasing on the back of this scheme or the tax incentive and so it’s more about accelerating existing plans and broadening the market,” he said.
The scheme, administered through the South African Reserve Bank , will see the government assume initial losses of 20% while other participating financing institutions assume the remaining losses. South African banks participating in the energy loan scheme have been confirmed as Standard Bank, Absa, FNB and Nedbank.
Standard Bank disbursed R1.1 billion for business installations as well as to support solar solutions providers during the first half of 2023, and has granted over R450 million to individuals to install solar solutions or for green-aligned home purchases.