Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
Excellent post, Pdub!
And when you see the number of different projects Eskom are launching in South Africa with a huge bias towards local companies with demonstrable experience, it's clear that there's many opportunities for Bushveld to profit massively in a whole variety of ways here!
I know I posted it all last night but honestly would recommend people check out the Eskom tender bulletin website - it's all there, and the list for Battery Storage / BESS seems to be growing ever so rapidly!
That's a fair point Alfacomp didn't think of that. I suppose indirect mention in the Nov 2019 RNS update says enough about what they will be bidding for without influencing.
''Looking at our energy division, our recently revealed intention to establish a VRFB Investment Platform to lead investments in this space adds another important piece to our energy storage strategy. The platform will allow us to mobilise additional third party financing to support VRFB manufacturers' efforts to scale up their manufacturing capacity. The proposed merger of two proven VRFB suppliers, Avalon and redT Energy is an exciting first investment opportunity for the platform. The interim funding provided by Bushveld will help advance their merger and the eventual creation of a stronger VRFB company.
The investment platform comes at an apt time, as developments in South Africa's energy sector point to a large local stationary energy storage market. These include the recently announced Eskom 1,400 MWh battery tender and the South African Integrated Resource Plan ("IRP") which include a dedicated allocation for new energy storage deployments of over 2,000 MW over the next 10 years. We believe that these developments will position South Africa as one of the largest markets for energy storage in the world.
In conclusion, we have laid the key building blocks to achieve our production target of 8,400mtVp.a while advancing Bushveld Energy's competitive position within the energy storage market."
I'm sorry but anybody who thinks that it is good practise to publicise the fact that you've tendered for a government contract has clearly never done it. It would be viewed as trying to influence the tender selection process and in some competitions would result in expulsion from the process.
Thanks Pdub for the reminder with that transcript. You can actually see if unfold as he said last year.
Such confidence about African projects that you feel it is given.
.... Possibly having a stake into the rental product company that is supplying electrolyte for rental. So there's a lot of different ways and it can be extremely active. I don't know who is getting 6 ways to make money on one project. To some there might be only 2 or 3. But in either case it's more than just vanadium and that's what integration allows us to do."
I simply don’t agree with the notion that BE is “a fragmented jumble at present and not an integrated model.” Read the following two quotes from MN. Everything that is being done is delivering on what he outlined in those interviews. All part of a pattern beginning to fall into place.
MN quote from interview August 2019:
“So I think just what are we doing. I kind of think of it as 3 directions within BE. One is around chemicals such as manufacturing and the electrolyte. There's some R and D that we do and this is where the sales and the rental product come in.
(Part 6) The second part is around actually manufacturing and assembling the batteries themselves. I think at some point once the market develops in South Africa we will look to put in an assembly plant here. Together with that we are looking at developing opportunities to take positions directly in some of the battery companies themselves. Obviously we need to be comfortable that there's a good return there, but its a way for us to start having some impact at the IP part of the industry.
Then the third part which is really where we spent the most efforts from the BE point of view is what I call deployments. And there we can do direct sales of batteries as a local value end partner. But much more interesting is what I call project development where if someone needs a storage solution maybe together with a solar plant we can go out and develop this opportunity. Do the business case for it. Raise the funding. Do the permitting. And that's a very interesting kind of market. We've got a pipeline of projects. “
And then MN from interview in November 2019:
“In some ways we aren't in direct control. Let's take an example of a project like our minigrid. There we are the developers so we get a development fee when that project closes. We are an investor so we get the return in equity or dividends from the power purchase agreement that is signed to pay for the energy that minigrid produces. By the way we are supplying a battery into so if we want to we charge a mark up on somebody else's battery. If we are invested in that company we get an additional benefit because our investment has now appreciated in value because that company has now got more deployments.we are supplying electrolyte so we get a fee for manufacturing the electrolyte into that project. We mined the vanadium so now we've got a sale on the vanadium. This integration allows us really to capture the value sometimes 4 or 6 different activities on just one single project. Now I want to be honest we are not going to develop every single vanadium project every vanadium battery project in the world but if it's in Africa then it's extremely active. If it's somewhere in let's say Australia yes we are probably not involved in the development, but we may be supplying vanadium, electrolyte, possibly having equity stake into the company that invested there. (to be continued)
Uksteve, BE may appear to be a fragmented jumble at the moment but I think it is more a collection perfectly aligned dominoes. Nothing this Company does is ever fragmented or a jumble. Not in the 7 years I've been here.
Halespur, thanks for your post - it reminded me to check the Eskom Tender Bulletin website again, where I found the news of the 1st BESS tender invite, for the Skaapvlei (Western Cape Vredendal) Substation Battery.
I was really covering the more generic protocol around issuing RNS's rather than specifically Eskom tenders, but yes the whole BE side lacks clarity and it just appears to be a fragmented jumble at present and not an integrated model.
UKSteve I don't think bidding for the Eskom BESS is news as such that needs a RNS but one that can help new investors see what project types BMN are interested in.
It also helps those who have lost faith in BE and have left the building to reconsider.
Don't forget all this information about the tender has been dug up by BB detectives last week and nothing that BMN have announced so they need to spell out their intentions if they care about sentiment.
There are a lot of 'genuine' bushy holders absolutely seething with frustration at the moment. We all know why. Just look at the SP. Fortune is the same and you just need to see his demeanour and hear him speaking in his video presentations to get that. For what it's worth I believe he knows he needs to keep his counsel until such time as the pieces of the jigsaw fall fully into place. I would mention I agree with Numpty and his theory of dominoes . For those that do know, patience will be rewarded but we must wait and see what starts it all off. If you trust Fortune (and I do) then be assured he will know the exact moment to lift the lid and deliver the news for best effect. Q4 is my best guesstimate as we wait and watch for stage one Eskom and critically news on JSE. Local benefication and finance is what it is all about.
Halespur / Libero - I agree also.
If there is any major news he is obliged to release it as and when known and not hold it back. The Q2 operational update is not going to be that major news, people just need to be mindful it will include lockdown and post-lockdown. The clock is ticking towards October and Duferco rubbing their hands together. We need to be double where we are now by then.
Halespur - you're spot on!
If he hides big news within a long detailed RNS written in a complex way that's aimed at those who already know Bushveld very well it will have far less impact than if he communicates it in a way that any tom, dick, or harry could understand.
For that reason, I would much prefer a separate (set of) RNS(s) purely for the Eskom tender news!
Fortune needs to write in the Q2 RNS in big capital letters that we have BID for the Eskom tender so any old & new investors see it. I know he likes to hide things in his back pocket for as long as possible but this part of comms is important if he really wants to help the SP.
.....another equally valid interpretation is that there has been so little buying it hasn't been necessary to resort to the big sells to suppress any rise as the SP has remained in its range.....
Guess it is the effect of the summer holidays and also a sign that the big seller may have taken a day or two off / run out of shares!
This lack of liquidity during the summer is notorious, but it probably makes a sharp rise in the share price all the more likely. All we need is a jump in buying pressure and, without the presence of a seller, the share price could rise quite sharply.
..and the Q2 Results RNS and possibly an Eskom Tender Bid RNS could land any day now!