Meet The Team

hydrogen topics at the organization as well as the internationalization. Before joining ENERTRAG in 2017, Tobias successfully established and led the Energy Centre at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He served on the inaugural South African Ministerial Advisory Council on Energy (MACE). Tobias is author of the book “South Africa’s Energy Transition” that outlines a roadmap for a low-cost, decarbonised and job-rich future for South Africa’s energy sector. Tobias studied engineering and public administration in Darmstadt, Berkeley and New York.

Before this, he formed part of the leadership team responsible for establishing an energy centre at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

His extensive experience also includes various roles in Eskom, ranging from Regional Sales Manager (when there was excess capacity in the country) to Regional Energy Services Manager (responsible for demand-side management during the capacity constraint years) and eventually Renewables Technology Manager in the Eskom Research and Development department. In between, there were stints in the Social and Economic Development domain and active involvement in the Electricity Distribution Industry restructuring program.

His qualifications include a National Diploma in Electrical Engineering and a B.Com.

energy, resonating effortlessly with our company values. Before joining ENERTRAG South Africa, she worked for SiVEST as a Divisional Manager, where she led the renewable energy team. Her role included project managing large-scale environmental impact assessment (EIA) processes and offering environmental advisory services to project developers.

development disciplines. Since joining the renewable energy industry in 2010, she has been involved in the numerous rounds of the government led REIPPP programme, as well as private offtake procurement opportunities. She gained extensive experience in corporate finance, economic development and project finance activities and was part of a team that successfully developed, bid, closed, constructed, and operated over 300MW of wind and solar projects in South Africa.
She is a qualified Chartered Accountant, registered with the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), and completed her Bachelor’s and Honour’s degrees in Accounting at the University of Johannesburg. She completed her articles at EY in South Africa and spent time within the organisation’s assurance team, in both Canada and South Africa.

ENERTRAG South Africa she leads the Energy System Optimisation group which performs Power-to-X optimisation studies (green hydrogen and derivative products such as green ammonia, e-methanol and e-kerosene), for local and international projects, in order to determine the least cost mix of technologies given a range of assumptions and boundary conditions. The team analyses in detail the dispatch of all generation and conversion technologies and the utilisation of storages.

Joanne has published a number of energy system modelling studies which have contributed towards knowledge, research and decision making in the local and international energy industry. The studies have largely focused on topics such as least-cost electricity planning, the cost impact of the integration of high shares of renewable energy, the value of different generation technologies to the power system, the role of storage, power system flexibility, and accelerated decarbonisation pathways for the power sector as well as carbon intensive industrial companies.
Joanne graduated as an Industrial Engineer in 2009, after which she conducted her Masters in Electrical Engineering. She is registered as a Professional Engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa and has been working in the energy sector for over 10 years.

discussions and modelling. Fabio has over a decade of experience in consulting, working in and across multiple territories, advising companies on efficient tax structures. He was a team member of the global tax team in the Energy, Utilities and Resources industries where he focused on the Energy Transition challenges. His experience with global energy companies brings a valuable perspective when navigating local policy.

Fabio holds a BSc in Business Administration with a focus on International Management and is currently in the process of finishing his MSc in Energy Studies from the University of Dundee. He has written papers on the trading of green energy products, CBAM and renewable hydrogen derivative exports from South Africa to the EU and risk factors on the bankability of hydrogen projects.

Managing Infrastructure Investments in Africa, at UCT Business School, sets him apart from many of his sector’s peers.

His work experience includes research and publications on private-sector renewable energy investments in Africa; and small-scale embedded generation, energy efficiency, and solar water heaters within the public sector.

Kyle is a master’s graduate from Stellenbosch University, having completed his Masters in Sustainable Development, Planning, and Management at the Sustainability Institute. His research explores the community development aspects of the REIPPPP.

undertaking permitting, project management, environmental compliance auditing, environmental due diligence, screening assessments, including pre-feasibility desktop screening and regulatory and permitting approval screening, as well as stakeholder engagement for renewable energy projects across South Africa.

Mmakoena holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geochemistry from the University of the Witwatersrand and has over five years of experience across the mining, grid infrastructure and renewable energy sectors.

responsibilities include obtaining development permits, licenses and authorisations, assisting with updating various development databases and evaluating new projects and opportunities for solar and wind projects. Zinzi is enthusiastic about green energy as it not only promote a healthier environment but presents an opportunity for economic development in third world countries. She holds a BSc (Hons) in GIS & Remote Sensing and a BSc in Life & Environmental Sciences from the University of Johannesburg.

the push for communities to adopt more sustainable energy sources, an important agenda for South Africa.

He previously worked as a Remote Intern for Our Future Cities, a South African Non-Profit Organization that promotes the development of more fair and progressive cities. His academic and research interests include land-use modeling, information systems, and sustainable development. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geomatics from the University of Cape Town.

the country. She has been involved in several projects developing the knowledge base and bringing the necessary stakeholders together to develop a sustainable aviation fuel sector in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tjaša Bole-Rentel holds a BA in Economics from the University of Ljubljana and an MSc in Environment and Resource Management from the Free University in Amsterdam.

Her work included assessments of feedstock production potentials for biofuels, techno-economic assessments of various low-carbon fuels technologies, evaluation of policy support options, developing decision-support tools, sustainability assessments of carbon sources for various advanced fuels, as well as hands-on policy development and sustainability standard development.

Prior to joining ENERTRAG, Tjaša was the Bioenergy Programme Manager at WWF South Africa, and before that, she held various research positions in South Africa and the Netherlands.

a Governing Board member of the Very Large Power Grid Operators (GO15) of the international market.

He previously worked as a senior specialist in the Energy Centre at the CSIR Pretoria campus and was approached by the Minister of Public Enterprises (2019) to be part of the Ministerial Technical Review Team to help and devise methods to support Eskom after they had embarked on large scale load shedding, both the Minerals Council of South Africa (MINCOSA) and the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) supported this move.

Robert is a registered member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers (SAIEE) and is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). He holds two MSC degrees one in Electrical Engineering from the University of KwaZulu Natal and an MSc degree in Engineering Business Management from Warwick University in the UK and was a recipient of the Eskom Chairman’s award (2012) as executive of the year.

determination in South Africa. She has experience in banking and finance, project development, and project finance. She completed her articles and was an Associate at ENSafrica in the projects department where she provided advice on various renewable energy, oil, and gas transactions. She subsequently moved to DLA Piper where she provided advice on banking and finance matters.

She holds an LLB from Wits University and is currently reading for an LLM in Environmental Law at the same institution.

was an associate at a law firm in the South of Johannesburg working within the general litigation department. He has dealt with a diverse portfolio of matters ranging in fields of Estate law, criminal law, civil litigation, drafting of contracts, family law, and property law.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Law and Psychology major) and a Bachelor of Laws degree, both from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is currently reading for his Masters in Banking Law through UNISA on a part-time basis. She is an admitted Attorney of the High Court of South Africa with a depth of experience and a keen interest in our sector, having chosen to base her most recent dissertation on a legal model for decentralizing renewable energy procurement and determination in South Africa.

Property and Servitude Valuation, Spatial Information and Property Law.

Jolene has 14 years’ experience in Land Acquisition, specializing in the acquisition of land and servitudes for electrical infrastructure over privately owned and government owned land. She has completed the Intensive Negotiation Skills Program with the International Negotiation Skills Academy.

He has worked in this industry since 2009, being part of a leadership team in a successful renewable energy company. He has many years of experience in managing the procurement, construction and operations, and maintenance of wind energy facilities for a local independent power producer. Furthermore, he brings with him extensive experience in the realization of wind energy projects and has successfully developed, constructed, and managed three wind energy projects.

He holds a B Eng degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, and a Government Certificate of Competency from the Department of Labour.

within the renewable energy sector and holds a certificate in bookkeeping.

With her growing interest in the industry, she believes her contribution and skills will support the development of the renewable energy industry in South Africa.

support positions in the education, banking, and private sector, having worked his way up into more Senior roles.

His interests in IT Security started in 2013 and he holds internationally recognized certificates such as CEH, NSE2, and CNSS.