EU Parliament underlines importance of green renewable energy in South Africa

EU Parliament underlines importance of green renewable energy in South Africa

EU Parliament underlines importance of green renewable energy in South Africa

On Wednesday, 27/05/2026, a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament visited the Bio2Watt Energy Holdings biogas plant in Bronkhorstspruit. The project is a flagship of Global Gateway, the European Union's strategy to make high-quality investments in strategic value chains of clean tech, renewable energy and infrastructure.

In South Africa, Bio2Watt Energy Holdings is one enterprise leading the way to a circular economy. The Bio2Watt Energy Holdings biogas plant is the first industrial scale waste-to-energy facility in South Africa. It processes 240,000 tons of organic waste per year to provide green energy to over 26,000 people in nearby communities as well as to industrial actors such as the BMW and South African Breweries, a subsidiary of ABInBev. This Global Gateway project, for which the European Union has partnered with Climate Fund Managers (CFM), a leading international blended finance fund manager, therefore helps to create local jobs, advance green industrialisation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Chairperson of the European Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee, the Honourable David McAllister (MEP), commented: "Bio2Watt has made a remarkable impression on me. It is a concrete, high-visibility example of the EU's Global Gateway in action in that it demonstrates how climate finance and public-private partnerships converge to promote shared values and common interests. Beyond the significant benefit to local communities and the environment, of particular interest has been BMW South Africa's involvement from the outset in the establishment of the biogas facility to provide its Rosslyn plant north of Tshwane with renewable baseload power. Circular economy is all about partnerships to effectively keep products and materials in circulation for as long as possible while at the same time minimising waste and resource use."

Through its contribution to the project, the EU is delighted to partner with South Africa to address the country's critical grid stability needs with practical energy solutions under the Just Energy Transition partnership. Bio2Watt is a clear example of how Global Gateway and Team Europe successfully de-risk complex infrastructure investments to crowd in private and institutional capital.

Bio2Watt is a scalable model, with plans already underway to expand the blueprint into Mozambique and Uganda. This positions the EU-South Africa partnership as a catalyst for green industrialisation across the wider Southern African region.

Additional facts & figures:

• The Bronkhorstspruit Biogas Project (BBP) plant avoids emissions of 48,000 tons of CO2 equivalent per year, which is equivalent to about 120 million kilometres driven by a passenger car. Unlike solar or wind energy generation, this biogas plant model provides reliable baseload power.
• The over R635 million ($38.5 million) commitment by Climate Fund Managers' Climate Investor ONE and Climate Investor TWO - which include an EU contribution - enables Bio2Watt Energy Holdings to consolidate its project pipeline into a R3.75 billion ($227 million) investment opportunity.
• Bio2Watt provides green energy to BMW South Africa's Rosslyn plant outside Tshwane and to ABInBev through its subsidiary, South African Breweries (SAB).
• Regarding the partnership with BMW's Rosslyn plant, this win-win initiative allows a major European manufacturer to meet its global carbon-neutrality targets while securing a reliable energy supply despite local grid constraints, while directly investing back into the South African economy and preserving local industrial manufacturing jobs. In so doing, the project aligns directly with South African national and municipal policies on circular economy and waste management. By converting agricultural waste into energy and organic fertilizer, it helps local municipalities meet landfill-diversion targets and protect local groundwater. In addition, the project pioneered the technical and legal framework for municipal grid wheeling in South Africa through its landmark commercial agreement with BMW.
• Besides processing organic waste, reducing the impact on the environment and supplying reliable green power, the operating model of the Bronkhorstspruit biogas plant creates sustainable jobs in peri-urban areas with high unemployment.

For more information, please contact Mr Daniel Smith, [email protected]