2011
Into Africa.
In June 2011, Building Energy, an Italian solar EPC company, decided to expand its business geographically into Africa. The model was to include development and ownership of assets using its participation in South Africa’s first bidding round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers’ Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), in 2012, as its point of entry.
2012
Cape Town.
A year later, the Head Office in Cape Town was opened, and the business model was later expanded into other renewable energy technologies, Operations & Maintenance, and Asset Management.
2019
Lift-off.
The team grew over time and what began as Africa’s business unit of Building Energy has now become Red Rocket, a fully integrated African IPP on a mission to design, develop, and distribute clean energy in South Africa and beyond.
2020
The sky’s not the limit.
The Cape Town office is home to 43 full-time employees who together with 12 long-term consultants employed mainly in projects under construction, and 111 operators in the O&M teams in South Africa and Uganda, bring the total headcount to 166 Rocketeers.
2021
Ride or die.
With an organisational growth of 10 permanent Rocketeers, we were able to win 3 wind projects in the REIPPPP Bid Window 5. Red Rocket now has a portfolio of 750MW.
2022
Reinventing our future again.
Red Rocket has grown significantly in 2022, and now have a Rocketeer family of over 74 employees. We continue to successfully win and develop projects and currently have 1000MW of projects in operations, under construction, and near financial close in South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Mali.
2023
Unleashing explosive growth.
In 2023, the Red Rocket family expanded by 65 Rocketeers, bringing the Mothership’s staff to over 100 individuals. This growth coincided with an exceptional achievement with Red Rocket successfully reaching financial close and initiating construction on three of our REIPPPP Bid Window 5 projects: Brandvalley, Rietkloof, and Wolf Wind Farms.
These combined efforts will contribute a substantial 365MW of much-needed power to South Africa’s grid, helping to meet the nation’s energy demands. Adding to these monumental milestones, Witberg Wind Farm, our first C&I project, reached financial close and commenced construction. We also took our portfolio of projects in operation, under construction and near financial close to over 2900MW.
Today
Increasing our momentum.
Our star keeps rising as we continue to innovate as a cohesive, results-driven organisation that boasts over 140 Mothership and on-site Rocketeers. The successful financial close of one of our Round 6 projects, Virginia Solar Park, represents a significant achievement that builds on our impressive successes.
The 275MWp project will add vital energy to South Africa’s grid while further cementing our position as a market leader fearlessly transforming the renewable energy sector.