Table of Contents
Key Points
- Seriti Green secures $295.6 million for 155 MW wind project in Mpumalanga, backed by Standard Bank and other financiers.
- The project will create 800 jobs during construction and expand Seriti Green’s installed wind capacity to 310 megawatts by 2027.
- Electricity will be sold to Energy Exchange of Southern Africa, marking its first large-scale power procurement venture.
Seriti Green, the clean-energy arm of South African tycoon Mike Teke’s Seriti Resources, has secured financial close on a $295.6 million package to fund the construction of its 155 MW Ummbila Emoyeni 3 wind project in Mpumalanga.
The project, part of the second phase of Seriti Green’s wind energy developments, is expected to create more than 800 jobs during construction while offering skills training opportunities for young people. The funding package includes R4.9 billion ($277 million) in debt and R330 million ($18.6 million) in equity.
Standard Bank is the lead financier, providing half of the debt at R2.45 billion ($138.4 million), while other lenders and shareholders contributed the remainder. With agreements now in place, construction of Ummbila Emoyeni 3 is moving forward. Once completed in 2027, the facility will expand Seriti Green’s installed wind capacity to 310 megawatts.
Partnership powers clean energy growth
Seriti Green chief executive Peter Venn said the partnership with Standard Bank has been central to its clean energy progress. “Standard Bank has been the leading financer on all of Seriti Green’s projects to date. We are looking forward to working together to bring more mega-projects online.”
Standard Bank’s energy and infrastructure finance executive Nicholas Knott-Craig added that the bank is proud to support the rollout of clean power in Mpumalanga. “Through this transaction, we are directly contributing to the transformation of South Africa’s energy landscape by facilitating the rollout of renewable energy facilities in South Africa’s energy heartland – Mpumalanga,” he said.
The almost $300 million funding deal underpins one of the largest private wind projects in the country. It follows the completion of Ummbila Emoyeni’s first phase in 2024 and will be followed by an additional 465 MW of wind generation in later phases. Electricity from the new facility will be sold under a long-term offtake agreement to the Energy Exchange of Southern Africa (Exsa), a Remgro subsidiary, marking Exsa’s first venture into utility-scale power procurement.
Mike Teke leads Seriti’s dual path
Seriti Resources, majority black-owned through Mike Teke’s Masimong Group, Thebe Investment Corporation, Zungu Investments (Zico), and Community Investment Holdings (CIH), remains one of the most important players in South Africa’s coal sector. Under the leadership of chair Mike Teke, the company produces about 50 million metric tonnes of coal each year, meeting roughly a third of Eskom’s demand.
In early 2025, the group deepened its footprint in the industry with the opening of the Naudesbank Colliery in Mpumalanga. The new mine is set to create 300 jobs and strengthen Seriti’s role as Eskom’s largest coal supplier. It also underscores the company’s position as South Africa’s biggest black-controlled coal producer at a time when the country’s power supply remains heavily dependent on coal.
Seriti is working to balance this reliance by investing in renewable energy through its subsidiary, Seriti Green. Established in 2021, the unit took a major step forward in 2022 when it bought a controlling stake in Windlab Africa’s wind and solar projects. The two businesses now run in parallel: Seriti Resources continues to provide the coal South Africa still relies on, while Seriti Green focuses on building the cleaner energy systems the country will need in the future.
