South Africa’s biggest landlord dumping Eskom

Growthpoint Properties has acquired a 30% stake in the Boston Hydroelectric Plant, which will supply energy to 23 of the real estate giant’s properties.

This forms part of the group’s larger strategy of increasing its reliance on various forms of renewable energy, including rooftop solar and a new e-co₂ wheeled renewable energy initiative.

Growthpoint is South Africa’s largest real estate investment trust, listed on the JSE with a market cap of R54 billion.

With a portfolio of over 475 property assets, the developer is most well-known for its stake in Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront.

On Thursday, 23 October, Growthpoint announced that it has acquired a 30% stake in the Boston Hydroelectric plant, a new R390 million development with an operational lifetime of over 40 years.

This plant was developed by leading independent power producer Serengeti Energy within the Lesotho Highlands Water Scheme near Clarens in the Free State. 

It is South Africa’s newest hydroelectric plant and was certified for commercial operations by Eskom on Friday, 17 October 2025. It has already started adding renewable energy to the national grid.

In 2023, Growthpoint secured exclusive access to the estimated 30 GWh of renewable electricity generated by the plant annually, through its landmark 195 GWh power purchase agreement (PPA) with licenced energy trader Etana Energy. 

Boston Hydro is the first project to come online in a mix of cost-saving, certified zero-carbon hydro, wind and solar electricity generation projects powering the PPA. 

Boston Hydro’s renewable electricity will supply 23 Growthpoint buildings, including 10 in Sandton Central and three in Cape Town.

Growthpoint’s 30% stake in Boston Hydro continues its investment in renewable electricity sources and furthers its green energy transition, which began over a decade ago. 

The property group took its first steps into rooftop solar generation in 2011. Since its first installation, the property group has invested more than R1 billion in solar energy locally.

It has also grown one of South Africa’s largest small-scale embedded generator renewable energy fleets and linked them to transparent certification frameworks. 

Growthpoint owns a fleet of 80 rooftop plants across its portfolio, delivering 61.2 MWp of capacity and generating a significant amount of electricity annually. 

Growthpoint said it has a further 7 MWp of solar installations in the pipeline for commissioning by mid-2026.

The developer now operates and procures one of South Africa’s most diversified private renewable energy portfolios, combining solar and hydro generation. Wind is soon set to join its renewable energy mix as part of the PPA.

When Growthpoint’s PPA with Etana Energy is fully operational, together with its rooftop solar, approximately 40% of the developer’s total electricity demand will be supplied from renewable energy.

“Bringing all this together is Growthpoint’s game-changing e-co₂ wheeled renewable energy initiative,” the company said.

“Growthpoint’s pioneering e-co₂ now officially delivers wheeled renewable electricity directly to 10 flagship office buildings in Sandton and their tenants, with the first electrons coming from the operational Boston Hydro over the national grid.” 

Boston Hydroelectric Plant