Sponsor sought for environmental venture capital conference, Viridis Africa

I am approaching you in respect of the forthcoming Viridis Africa investment in clean tech summit, offering a unique sponsorship opportunity for your company or organisation.

Viridis Africa is to be held on the 15th and 16th of October 2013 at the Killarney Golf Club in Lower Houghton, Johannesburg. The pre-eminent event for investment in clean technologies throughout Africa will be the place for local and foreign investors to meet with principals of projects in renewable energy, biofuels, biomass, waste treatment and recycling, water and effluent treatment amongst other sectors.

The size and scope of projects seeking funding would range from few to hundreds of millions of Rands.

Participants include speakers / representatives of the leading financial institutions both local and international, country trade representatives, international funding agencies, entrepreneurs and many others. This event will attract more than 150 professionals, government officials, project principals, and others.

The amount of interest in the event is evident by the strong response we receive from local and cross-border parties seeking to present projects in waste to energy, recycling, solar energy (CSP), photovoltaic farms as well wind power generation. Projects in the production of biofuels are also to be presented.

Investors including institutional, private equity, venture capital from South Africa and the region will be presenting their particular interest, investment criteria and inviting principals to submit their business proposals.

We have several different packages for sponsorship and these are detailed on the sponsorship page of www.viridisafrica.com. Your company can choose how it wants to participate in the event and the level of exposure it wishes to gain.

We are looking forward to hearing from you. In case you have any queries you can contact us at the numbers given on the form enclosed. Thank you in advance for considering sponsoring the Viridis Africa event.

For more information visit www.viridisafrica.com



Suza Adam
Spindle Communications cc
Tel: +27 11 880 0364
Fax: +27 11 788 3697
Cell: +27 82 789 9777
suza.adam@spindlecommunications.com

Viridis Africa 2013 - clean tech investment summit

On the 15th & 16th October 2013 the third Clean Technology business and investment matchmaking conference for the African continent is to be held at the Killarney Country Club, Lower Houghton South Africa. The Viridis Africa clean technology investment summit is an event is designed to bring about innovators, inventors, technology partners, academia, project promoters, investors, and government agencies to investigate, evaluate, and elucidate commercial opportunities relating to clean technologies.

 

The pre-eminent event for investment in clean technologies throughout Africa will be the place for local and foreign investors to meet with principals of projects in renewable energy, waste treatment and recycling, water and effluent treatment amongst other sectors.

The event is dedicated to entrepreneurs and corporates seeking investment or financial support for the introduction of clean technologies, innovation and associated services. The intention of Viridis Africa is to bring together debt financiers, investors and entrepreneurs from Africa and rest of the world, to jointly explore commercial initiatives in green technologies.

Principals who would present their business opportunities at this event would have the audience of numerous local and foreign investors, stratified according to their interest and investment criteria.

The size and scope of projects seeking funding would range from few to hundreds of millions of US dollars.

Participants include speakers / representatives of the leading financial institutions both local and international, country trade representatives, international funding agencies and many others.

The pre-eminent event for investment in clean technologies throughout Africa will be the place for local and foreign investors to meet with principals of projects in renewable energy, waste treatment and recycling, water and effluent treatment amongst other sectors.

The following are some of the clean tech sub-sectors in which principals may consider their company, initiative being presented:

·         Clean Energy Generation: Wind, solar, hydro, biofuels, geothermal, clean coal technologies

·         Storage: Fuel cells, advanced batteries, hybrid systems

·         Infrastructure: Management, transmission

·         Efficiency: Building efficiency, smart grids, waste heat recovery

·         Water & waste water: Water treatment, water conservation, waste water treatment, desalination Recycling & waste:

·         Recycling, waste treatment, organic matter, plastics,

The conference is relevant to:
• Cleantech entrepreneurs 
• Researchers working on water, energy and environmental issues 
• Government agencies involved in water, renewable energy and environmental issues 
• Electricity and water utilities and planners 
• Environmental consultants 
• Investors including institutional, private equity, venture capital from outside Africa will be presenting their particular interest, investment criteria and inviting principals to submit their business proposals.

Please note that the deadline for your business proposal submission is 30 August 2013.

An executive business summary of your project/ company is required in order for us to match your initiative/company business proposal with the appropriate theme. Importantly you need to indicate the funds you seek and the principal terms for investors participation.

www.viridisafrica.com

Call for proposals Sustainable Energy

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands invites interested parties to submit proposals for the delivery of market entry studies that can be used as guidance tools for Dutch companies who are or would like to become active in South-Africa in the following sectors:

 

1. Waste-to-Energy

2. Wind energy

3. Green buildings

4. Biomass (biofuels and agriculture waste)

Interested parties are advised that the responses must be submitted in accordance with the Terms of Reference.

To be eligible for consideration, applications must be made and submitted to PRE-EA@minbuza.nl before 12:00 pm on 30 November 2012

TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF
FOUR MARKET ENTRY STUDIES ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
1. SERVICES AND DELIVERABLES (OUTPUT)
Within four months the following will be undertaken and delivered to the Embassy of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria:
Four market entry studies that can be used as guidance tools for Dutch companies who are or
would like to become active in the waste-to-energy, wind energy, green buildings or biomass
(biofuels and agriculture waste) sector in South Africa. See attachment for a short clarification
of the Dutch expertise per subsector. After being appointed, the service provider receives
extensive information on the Dutch expertise per subsector.
2. GUIDELINES AND MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR THE
PRODUCTION OFMARKET ENTRY STUDIES
The four market entry studies will be delivered in separate electronic (printable) versions
together with 20 initial hard copies per study. The final layout will be submitted for preapproval
to the Netherlands Embassy in Pretoria. It will be easily readable documents which
will not deter consumers by its volume. The reports are written in English.
The readers of the market entry studies are representatives of Dutch industry and trade, for
example importers, exporters, producers and investors. The market entry studies are read by
people who see opportunities for doing business in South Africa. For them, the market entry
study is an introduction to a subsector in South Africa and a guidance tool that will inform
them on possible leads and difficulties.
The market entry studies should at least give an answer to the following questions:
 General information on each subsector:
o What is the scale of the subsector in South Africa?
o What is the level of technology of the subsector?
o What is the profitability of the subsector?
o Who are the most important players within the subsector, what is their
role/position and where are they located (government, knowledge, financial,
industry, industry associations, NL businesses already active, list of consultants or
entry points such as SANEC, branch organisations, BBBEE consultants etc.)?
o What are the trends, developments and activities of the most important players of
the subsector?
 What is the market of each subsector: value chain, domestic, export, supply?
 What is the current government policy of each subsector?
o Policy goals and dilemma’s (including the food security aspect in the biomass
study): national, provincial
o Detail of programs (a.o. REBID) and progress to date
 How can Dutch companies enter the subsector/market, what do they need to know?
o Information on tender procedures
o Funding opportunities (a.o. FMO, DBSA, IDC etc.)
o Regulatory program (licensing, contracting, consenting)
 What are the forecast and developments of each subsector (include SWOT analysis)?
 What are potential concrete project leads for bilateral cooperation between Dutch and
South African partners that both support private sector development in South Africa and
generate commercial perspective for Dutch parties.
The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Pretoria provides the service provider
with general information on South Africa and doing business in South Africa, as well as on
available instruments of the Dutch government institution ‘NL Agency’ which falls under the
Dutch ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. This information has to be
included in the market entry studies.
3. QUALIFICATION OF EXPERTS
The service provider will have an established track record of at least 5 years or more in the
field of economic surveying. It will have extensive knowledge of the South African
sustainable energy sector. It will have (access to) experts on the subsectors waste-to-energy,
wind energy, green buildings and/or biomass in order to make the recommendations.
4. COSTS & DEADLINES
The service provider will provide a quote to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
per market entry study which will include its consultancy fees, travel and other operational
expenditure (detailed), the design, layout and printing of the market studies. Service
providers are allowed to submit proposals for more than 1 of the indicated subsectors.
Eventually one or several providers will be appointed to compile the different market entry
studies.
 To be eligible for consideration, applications must be made and submitted to PREEA@
minbuza.nl before 12:00 pm on 30 November 2012.
 A service provider will be appointed by 14 December 2012.
 The market entry studies have to be delivered before 16 March 2013.
Payment will be made as follows: 60% upon the signing of the contract and the remaining
40% on the receipt and approval of the final, completed market studies and financial report.
5. CONTACT INFORMATION
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
210 Florence Ribeiro/ Queen Wilhelmina Ave
New Muckleneuk
Pretoria, South Africa
Monique van Asperen
m-van.asperen@minbuza.nl
Tel: +27 (0) 12 425 4557
Wilson Mngwambe
PRE-LNV@minbuza.nl
Tel: +27 (0) 12 425 4573

South African Cleantech SME Accelerator Programme 2012/13

Entries for the second annual Cleantech SME Accelerator Programme are now open. The Cleantech Programme was launched last year to identify and provide support and exposure to new innovation clean technologies developed by South African entrepreneurs.  

It is currently managed by the National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC-SA) – a key industrial sustainability programme of the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) hosted by the CSIR.

Tracks and categories 

Interested South African Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) are being invited enter their clean technology innovations to the Programme by the closing date of Monday, 29 October 2012.  Submissions can be made in one of two tracks, namely:

1.     Break-through Technology Innovations; or

2.     Adaptive and Appropriate Technology Innovations.

Essentially this means that the innovation can either be a brand new technology or product, or it can be a unique adaptation of an existing technology.  Each of the two tracks includes five categories under which entries can be made.  These are:

• Renewable energy, including, solar, wind, geo-thermal, biofuels etc;
• Energy Efficiency, for example industrial process improvements, lighting systems, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning;
• Water Efficiency, covering technologies that support water management, quality and conservation;
•  Waste Minimisation, where technologies should minimise waste including air emissions, effluent, solid emissions and recycling; and
• Materials Efficiency, which focuses on innovations that will minimise material usage and maximise product output.

Process

Closing date for entries:  Monday, 29 October 2012

Submissions will be adjudicated by a panel representing business, industry, government and the academic/R&D fraternity.  Submissions that meet all criteria will be considered and a maximum of 40 semi-finalists will be selected.  Semi-finalists will then be supported through a process of business coaching, including a 2-3 day coaching workshop, to provide assistance with refining of their applications, after which they will submit a revised proposal.  

A second round of adjudication will take place, from which ten finalists (five from each track) will be selected.  Each of the ten finalists will present their submission at a high profile awards event in February 2013.  The adjudication panel will select one winner and one runner-up in each track.

 

Awards and prizes

Finalists will be acknowledged at an awards ceremony and the winners and runners up will receive generous cash prizes, media exposure, business support services and market linkage opportunities.  Details of the prizes will be posted on the NCPC-SA website and other new media platforms. 

Entries and enquiries

The first round requires a simple entry per entry form on the website:  www.ncpc.co.za .  Closing date for entries is Monday, 29 October 2012. Rules and conditions of entry are also outlined on the NCPC-SA website.

Enquiries:  Cleantech@csir.co.za  Tel (012) 841 3314 / 2506

Viridis Africa 2012 – clean tech investment gaining momentum

Second year running, Viridis Africa is gaining ground as the primary clean tech investment conference on the African continent.

The conference invites clean tech investors to listen to business proposals from clean tech entrepreneurs in fields ranging from water conservation, waste management, renewable energy, biomass, recycling to green building and green chemistry.

This year, a number of international funders, such as the Overseas Public Investment Corporation (OPIC) from the US and Osmosis Investments from the UK are participating in the Johannesburg-based conference.

Other institutional funders that are participating in the event include Lereko Metier, Trium Investments, the Industrial Development Corporation, Business Partners, Sterling Waterford Securities, the National Empowerment Fund and the Technology Innovation Agency.

Business case presenters include Bettalights, Biogaspro Agama, St Francis Biomass, Biogas Power, Renewable Energy Corporation, Gridcars, Facilicomm, Steenkampskraal Thorium, and the University of the Witwatersrand.

Whilst projects range in size from few tens of millions to hundreds of millions and greater, no sight is lost of smaller initiatives, predominantly those that engage in new technology engagements, as a matter of fact it is these initiatives that looking towards the future, may hold the greatest commercial promise.

Not unlike the leapfrogging that Africa experience in respect of the usage of mobile technologies and applications, whereby the usage of landlines are negated, similar expectation can be called on the emergence of clean technologies in the context of infrastructural development throughout the continent. That is to say, where fundamental services such as the provision of water and electricity, removal and recycling of waste, etc, is being introduced the latest and most efficient technological solutions can and will be deployed. Further, such solutions aside of their enviro-friendly and sustainable merits, will also allow economically marginalized communities to perhaps participate in certain economic benefits, thereby improving their life standards.

By the inherent quantum of the above said needs, it stands to reason that scale of economies can be achieved and thus although new technologies being introduced their cost can be well mitigated.

The organizers of the conference, Spindle Communications, in order to ensure the greatest exposure and continuity of interest in the projects and the available finance schemes have embarked on the introduction of various toolsets that would allow participants from within the continent and beyond to take proactive participation in seeking to fund other opportunities not presented at the event via online forums on Linked and real-time i-meet-you free application for mobile devices which allows participants and others to engage each other.

Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited seeks funding for thorium plant project at Viridis Africa

Steenkampskraal Thorium Limited (STL) is a South African registered company in the business of beneficiating Thorium as a clean, safe energy resource. Founded in 2011, Steenkampskraal projects include commercialising the TH-100 which is a 35 MW Thorium-fuelled gas-cooled pebble bed reactor.

The TH-100 project is a Generation IV Reactor and associated fuel plant which can be built and commissioned within the next 5-10 years.

The same TH-100 reactor can be configured to cater for a variety of applications:
- Electricity generation using a standard off the shelf steam turbine generator,
- Process heat for use in chemical plants, paper mills or petrochemical plants,
- Heat for desalination or water purification plants,
- CO2 free steam for lifting bitumen from oil sands
- Power packs for Off-shore oil platforms
- Off-grid distributed power on islands and remote areas.
- Power plants for large electricity users such as mines, smelters, cement plants, refineries etc.

Associated projects are the Thorium/Plutonium mixed oxide fuel test qualification program with Thor Energy in Norway and the Pebble fuel plant project for production of thorium-based fuel spheres.

Steenkampskraal seeks to beneficiate thorium through the development of its Th-100 generators and associated fuel technologies and thereby contribute to sustainable energy solutions.

Steenkampskraal owns the technical capability to produce the Th-100 generators and associated thorium-based fuels. The company also works in conjunction with the Norwegian company, Thor Energy in which they hold a 15% stake.

According to Eben Mulder (CEO), “Steenkampskraal has developed a unique model to fund the thorium energy-based project. The model encompasses three phases. The concept design phase, the basic design phase and the detailed design phase. Steenkampskraal is seeking to obtain the necessary start-up capital to facilitate plant and equipment acquisition. The project is structured to award participants the opportunity to evaluate the outcome of every phase and to assess their own level of participation accordingly. Since every participating member would ideally also be a potential customer they will be in a position to acquire the first reactors and without having to pay a royalty fee.”

The company seeks to form a consortium of potential clients who will fund the project through the different stages of its design. With the concept design already being funded by STL, the company now calls on clients to further assist in funding the basic and detailed phases of the project. Clients can determine the extent to which they will be involved in the third phase, the detailed phase, depending on their evaluation of the basic design phase’s success. Risks and profits will be shared accordingly with the investors.

Steenkampskraal seeks to find investors mainly in the private sector and more specifically clients that wish to build their own reactors.

The pilot plant is planned to be approximately 36 meters long, 34 meters high and 28 meters wide and can be fully submerged below ground should it be required. Safety systems will be located to avoid foreign penetration and destruction to the plant. Depending on practical consideration the demo plant can be constructed either locally or internationally.

STL intends to make use of proven technology so as to ensure a swifter attaining of an operating license from regulators. This approach is also to ensure that STL achieves simplicity and predictability in their operations.

STL strives to deploy this technology for achieving an intrinsically safe fuel cycle commercially. In addition to this, observations from the US indicate that this alternative energy can serve a big market as there is a need for small sized, distributed, off-grid power plants.

“I believe that the country that makes the decision to licence and build this plant will    establish itself in the nuclear industry through this Small Model Reactor (SMR) and the market.

The Steenkampskraal Th-100 plant is the only SMR that can be built in the near future that addresses issues relating to fuel cycle and that produces less problematic waste with less proliferation resistance than any other vendors today.” Mulder concluded.

STL will be presenting its investment opportunity at Viridis Africa on 16 – 17 October 2012 at the Killarney Country Club, Lower Houghton, Johannesburg. Viridis Africa is a venture capital and private equity investment summit for clean tech companies to raise capital for their technologies, projects or business expansion.

Visit www.thorium100.com and www.viridisafrica.com for more information

Viridis Africa attracts significant clean tech investors

2012 is shaping to be a decisive year for commercialization of clean technology projects deployed throughout South Africa and the African region.

Despite much jostling and positioning by local and international players to become a preferred supplier of renewable energy to ESKOM, a late change of terms reference, effectively  resulted in reducing power purchase prices and has caused many of the bidders  to go back to the drawing board.

However this has resulted in a more efficient process of elimination of sub optimal technologies which have been drawn ashore to African coasts, as surplus from developed markets, which themselves are seeking newer technologies and solutions.  It is already evident that certain projects may lack the flexibility to incorporate newer technologies cost effectively, and thus assume greater price efficiencies in generating electricity.  It would be challenging to predict the future regarding the greater usage of alternative or renewable energies, catapulting them out of their relative obscurity.

For this to happen the cost of technologies would have to continue go down, and reliability up.

In a country and region where climatic conditions can and will dictate the wealth of a nation and by extension the individual level of disposable income much cognizance needs to be given to clean technologies, that by virtue of their introduction can resolve  or alleviate not only environmental priorities, but also enhance economic well being of communities.

Striking the balance between environmental and economic well being has a particular and profound meaning in the African context. Delivering the provision of water, electricity to economically marginal communities throughout the continent in efficient manner, coupled with extending the continent’s drive to beneficiate its natural resources – mining/mineral industry   with reduced impact on the environment is the ultimate objective.

Thus innovative technologies that can answer for the said challenges would prove commercially rewarding for entrepreneurs seeking their deployment in manufacturing sectors and region of human habitation where need is the greatest.

The Viridis Africa clean technology investment summit is an event is designed to bring about innovators, inventors, technology partners, academia, project promoters, investors, and government agencies to investigate, evaluate, and elucidate commercial opportunities relating to clean technologies, being appropriate environmentally sustainable and commercially sound, so they may address human and environmental needs not as mutually exclusive objectives but rather complimenting each other.  

 The Viridis Africa event will introduce amongst its distinguished list of speakers. Representatives of  leading investment and financial institutes include Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), the National Empowerment Fund ( NEF), the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), the Technology Innovation Agency ( TIA), the US Trade and Development Agency and the World Bank as well as private equity firms, such as Lerako Metier Sustainable Capital and Osmosis Investment Management, venture capitalist and other project financiers, seeking investments into clean technologies initiatives, the size and scope of which would be widely  ranging.

Inventors seeking to commercialize their inventions via establishing a startup vehicle, consulting engineering companies, project promoters, international /multinational consortia, all will find fertile ground of interacting with the appropriate type of funder and or partner most suitable for their initiative.

The organizers of this event are inviting any party who has a project/initiative/technology solution within the ambit of the clean tech sector to consider introducing it at the event. Business plan submissions should be forwarded to suza@viridisafrica.com

For more info, visit www.viridisafrica.com