westbrooke
renewable energy alternatives (Real)
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- Overview
- Investment highlights
- What is 12B
- Why invest
- Investment team
- How it works
- Our track record
- Our partners
- Portfolio overview
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fund overview
Westbrooke Renewable Energy Alternatives (Westbrooke Real) invests into a diversified portfolio of solar photovoltaic projects across South Africa, alongside Westbrooke’s exclusive, market leading partners. Projects are secured against power purchase agreements entered into with quality end users, each of which have been assessed and approved by Westbrooke’s internal credit team.
By utilising the Section 12B and Section 12BA tax deductions contained within the South African Income Tax Act, Westbrooke Real provides investors with an up to 200% tax deduction in the year of investment.
FY2023/24 FY2024/25 Tranche 1 FY2024/25 Tranche 2 Launch date Aug-23 Aug-24 Dec-24 Total committed equity / client capital R105M R68M R127M Fund type / structure en-Commandite partnership en-Commandite partnership en-Commandite partnership Regulation Section 12B of Income Tax Act Section 12B of Income Tax Act Section 12B of Income Tax Act Number of solar projects 45 15 28 Number of partners 5 2 6 Tax deduction achieved 169% 205% 192% -
key investment highlights
Up to 200% tax-deductible in the year of investment
Diversified portfolio of solar PV assets alongside best-of-breed operating partners local investment team
Equating to c.90% of the investment being funded through your tax money
Partnering with SARS to address SA’s electricity crisis
Targeted net investment IRR* of 50%+ p.a. and average yield of 8% p.a. (net of all fees and investor-related taxes)
Minimum investment of R1 million in cash (equating to a tax deduction of up to R2 million)
Investment alongside Westbrooke – SA’s largest tax-enhanced private market investment manager
* Assuming a natural person investor who pays provisional tax. Please note that the investment IRR appears very high due to a low net initial investment after accounting the S12B/BA tax deduction
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what is Section 12B
Section 12B is a provision of the South African Income Tax Act which offers favourable tax incentives to businesses that invest in renewable energy.
The section provides for an accelerated write-off of qualifying assets used in the production of renewable energy. The assets must be used by a taxpayer for the purpose of trade. The deduction is spread over three years: 50% of the cost in the first year, 30% in the second, and 20% in the third. An exception is made for photovoltaic (PV) solar energy not exceeding 1MW, which is fully deductible in the first year of expenditure.
Through Westbrooke’s proprietary structure, this incentive has been made available to individual taxpayers.
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why invest in S12B with Westbrooke
SA’s largest tax enhanced private market manager- Founder and Chair of the previous Section 12J Industry Association – leading the industry engagement process with SARS
- In excess of R4 billion raised and invested across Section 12J and Section 12B since 2016
- More than R2.5 billion of this capital has been successfully returned to clients, at average annualised post tax return of between 12% – 14% p.a.
- More than 100 underlying investments made in the Tax Enhanced Investing asset class since inception
Deeply experienced investment team and partner set- Supported by a dedicated and highly qualified internal Westbrooke investment team and an independent, non-executive investment committee which includes relevant industry experts
- Westbrooke Real has built exclusive relationships with 7 best-of-breed operating partners, who invest their own capital materially alongside Westbrooke Real investors
- These partners represent experienced and reputable industry experts whose businesses were in operation before the introduction of the Section 12BA incentive
- Partners are spread geographically across South Africa and each focus on a different industry subset (residential, agriculture, commercial, etc.), providing Westbrooke Real investors with diversification and access to the highest quality pipeline
Conservative approach to tax-enhanced investing- Investments supported by numerous tax opinions provided from market leading law firms, and further supported by Senior Counsel opinions in areas of particular risk
- Our capital preservation focus leads us to always follow the most prudent and low risk approach when investing client capital, especially in areas which carry tax risk
- Westbrooke’s proprietary investment structuring provides an investment structure which is fully compliant with applicable legislation relating to the marketing of financial products in South Africa
Proven track record investing in renewable energy projects- In the FY24 vintage, Westbrooke successfully invested north of R180 million across 45 projects alongside 5 exclusive operating partners. This was then supported by an initial R100 million FY25 capital raise which was exclusively offered to FY24 investors.
- Building off the foundation laid by our first two Section 12B vintages a further R200m was successfully invested in FY25
- The Westbrooke Real portfolio now consists of 78 projects with R590m deployed alongside 7 operating partners and a total of 30MW taken off the grid
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investment team
Saul Maserow
Nox Mlalazi
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how the project level gearing works
Westbrooke Real may use gearing in the portfolio at a future date to further de-risk your investment and return a portion of capital which will result in an enhanced 12B deduction on your cash invested.. This is achieved through the investor providing a limited recourse guarantee for their pro rata share of the debt, which allows the Section 12B deduction to be claimed on the full investment amount including gearing.
Amount Notes Cash invested (A) R1,000,000 Drawn by Westbrooke Real though a single capital call (i.e. not multiple drawdowns) and thereafter deployed over the 2026 tax year Project level debt R330,000 This example assumes a conservative 25% project level debt. This may be up to 60% based on project specific considerations, which would further enhance the tax deduction Total investment R1,330,000 Section 12B deduction 100% In terms of Section 12B, new and existing projects of under 1MW acquired qualify for a 100% tax deduction. Tax deduction R1,330,000 Individual tax rate 45% Assuming a natural person paying tax at the maximum marginal tax rate Indicative tax refund (B) R600,000 Percentage initial investment covered by SARS refund 60% Calculated as B / A -
Successfully invested (total project value)
R m
Solar PV projects
Taken off the grid
MW
Specialist solar partner
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meet our operating partners
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portfolio overview
Western Cape
Solar PV
105 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
462 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
308 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
110 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
1 232 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
414 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
65 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
55 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
485 kWp
Battery
800 kWh
Eastern Cape
Solar PV
262 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
470 kWp
Battery
700 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
1 020 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
139 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
157 kWp
Battery
240 kWh
Western Cape
Solar PV
254 kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
148 kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
129 kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
887 kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
645 kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
2500kWp
Limpopo
Solar PV
375 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
197 kWp
Battery
390 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
64 kWp
Battery
246 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
181 kWp
Battery
390 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
175 kWp
Battery
240 kWh
Mpumalanga
Solar PV
100 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
2 715 kWp
Western Cape
Solar PV
1 318 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
246 kWp
Gauteng
Solar PV
291 kWp
North West
Solar PV
687 kWp
Battery
1 800 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
435 kWp
Battery
300 kWh
Western Cape
Solar PV
1300 kWP
Battery
2880 kWh
Gauteng
Solar PV
2230 kWp
Battery
5100 kWh
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