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Thabiso KaliEnergy engineer · CEM

Johannesburg, South AfricaEnergy engineering × project finance

Thabiso Kali:From kilowatt-hours to bankable cash flows.

I'm an energy engineer with eight years of industrial experience and a Certified Energy Manager. I work where plant physics meets project finance: modelling solar PV, battery storage, wheeling and efficiency projects in the detail that lenders and investment committees need, and stress-testing the deals around them. This site shows that work: a fully worked solar project-finance case, interactive calculators, and Excel models you can audit line by line.

See the work Use the tools
Experience
8 years
Industrial energy engineering
Credential
CEM
Certified Energy Manager, AEE (2023)
Education
BSc Mech Eng
University of KwaZulu-Natal (2017). PGDip in Project Management (2020)
Focus
4 areas
Efficiency, tariffs, solar and storage, project finance

01Approach

Every energy project is two problems.

Engineering decides what a project can save or generate. Tariffs, tax and financing decide what it is worth. I work on both in one model, then explain the result to both audiences.
TechnicalThe plant, half-hour by half-hour

What the site can actually do

Building load, kW 1 MWp rooftop solar, kWSynthetic weekday. Solar supplies 34% of the day's 13.4 MWh, but one cloudy half-hour can still set the month's demand charge.
FinancialThe deal, year by year

What it is worth, and to whom

Equity cash flow, rand a yearThe same 1 MWp plant, reference case: equity IRR 20.0%, minimum DSCR 1.27x. Computed by the calculator's own model.
  • 01

    Energy efficiency

    Finding the savings, proving them, and turning them into a case a finance committee can approve.

  • 02

    Energy cost and tariffs

    Reading the bill line by line and matching the tariff to how a site actually uses power.

  • 03

    Renewable energy and storage

    Sizing solar PV and batteries against real load profiles, tariffs and grid constraints.

  • 04

    Project finance and investment analysis

    Building the cash-flow model, stress-testing it, and structuring the deal so lenders and sponsors can both say yes.

02Tools

Two ways in: the physics, or the money.

Calculators that run in your browser, built on the same code as the case studies. Nothing you type leaves the page.

All tools and Excel models

Technical lens

Technical tools

For engineers, plant and facility managers

Energy, demand, yield and savings: the questions an engineer is asked first, worked from the numbers on the bill and the meter.

Worked example

Power factor 0.80 → 0.95 takes 79 kVA off billed demand.

Open the technical tools

Financial lens

Financial tools

For CFOs, investors, developers and lenders

Returns, debt cover, tax and payback: the questions a credit or investment committee asks, with the Excel model behind the answer.

Reference rooftop PPA

Equity IRR 20.0%, minimum DSCR 1.27x, payback in year 7.

Open the financial tools

03Contact

Have a project that needs both the engineering and the model?

Energy-efficiency cases, tariff questions, solar and storage, or a model that needs checking before it goes to committee. Email is best.

Email
thabiso.lungakali@gmail.com
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/thabisokali

Based in Johannesburg, South Africa.