By Eamonn Ryan
South Africa’s renewable energy expansion is creating new opportunities across the infrastructure sector – including HVAC and electrical contractors working on increasingly complex energy projects. As these installations become larger and more technically sophisticated, understanding and managing the risks around them is becoming just as important as getting the engineering right.
Renewable energy has become one of South Africa’s most significant areas of private infrastructure investment.
Supplied by GIB
Since the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) was introduced in 2011, renewable energy has become one of South Africa’s most significant areas of private infrastructure investment. Between 2011 and 2025, the country attracted more than R292 billion in renewable energy investment, with more than 9.6GW of generation capacity brought online.
The scale of the market is changing the nature of the risks faced by developers, contractors, owners and financiers. Renewable energy projects can involve multiple specialist contractors, emerging technologies, significant weather exposure and complicated financing structures. These characteristics mean that insurance requirements cannot necessarily be approached in the same way as those of more conventional infrastructure projects.
Tanya van der Westhuizen, head of renewable energy at GIB, says the renewable energy market has developed rapidly, although insurance solutions have not always kept pace. “As projects become larger and investment structures more sophisticated, developers and financiers are looking for insurance solutions that understand the specific risks associated with renewable energy rather than trying to adapt traditional approaches.”
It is against this changing backdrop that GIB has partnered with global specialty insurance and reinsurance broker McGill and Partners to launch Protea Green, a specialist insurance solution aimed specifically at South Africa’s renewable energy market.
Insurance moves up the project agenda
Protea Green is intended to support renewable energy developers, project owners and lenders across both the construction and operational phases of a project. The offering combines GIB’s local market knowledge with McGill and Partners’ international insurance capabilities, providing access to A-rated insurance capacity and specialist underwriting expertise.
The move reflects a broader change in the role insurance plays in major energy developments. Rather than being treated simply as a contractual or financing requirement before construction starts, insurance is increasingly being considered as part of the wider risk-management strategy throughout a project’s life.
“Insurance is no longer viewed simply as a compliance requirement or a transaction completed before construction begins,” says van der Westhuizen. “It has become an important part of how projects are financed, managed and protected over the long term.”
She says developers and lenders increasingly want insurance partners that understand both the commercial realities of renewable energy developments and the changing risk environment surrounding them.
With insurance now recognised as central to how renewable projects are financed and protected, the question in Part 2 becomes what’s actually driving that shift – and who’s positioned to meet the demand.
