Black women-owned engineering and energy infrastructure firm Kulani Energy has acquired key assets from Optipower that historically operated as a division of Murray & Roberts Limited, which is in business rescue.

Optipower is one of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors approved on Eskom’s Panel A, supporting the National Transmission Company South Africa’s planned roll-out of more than 14 000 km of transmission lines.

In a statement, Kulani Energy said the transaction, funded with support from Differential Capital, was concluded through its subsidiary OptiProjects, which focuses on power transmission, distribution and renewable-energy infrastructure.

Kulani Energy COO Thinga Nethanani said the acquisition augmented execution capability in a constrained market, with specialist technical resources, including project managers, construction managers and technical planners, having been re-employed.

“South Africa’s grid expansion depends not only on capital investment, but on retaining experienced delivery teams with the ability to execute complex transmission projects,” Nethanani added.

OptiProjects would now operate as part of Kulani Energy’s broader platform strategy spanning professional services, EPC delivery, operations and maintenance, and investments,