In a span of eight years, Hleziphi Mtshizane has taken InPursuit Renewable Energy from a one-woman startup to a multimillion-rand independent power producer (IPP). Having started as an electrical engineer, Mtshizane saw a gap in the renewable energy space and went off on her own with a strong belief that Africa’s energy projects should be engineered through an African lens.
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The company is currently preparing to feed power into Johannesburg’s grid as an independent power producer (IPP).
Mtshizane’s journey to success began in Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal, where an early aptitude for maths and science set her on the path to an electrical engineering degree and a rewarding corporate career in utility-scale renewables.
In 2017, she finally decided to step out on her own, initially offering development and advisory services on large-scale and commercial-industrial (C&I) projects.
“Having been in the energy industry since 2013, I had seen how renewable energy projects were being delivered in South Africa without an African flair,” she explains.
“Decisions were being made without considering our context.
“I wanted to develop energy solutions specifically for Africans, by Africans, and to ensure these projects also created livelihoods for the communities around them.”
Daily juggle
The early years were extremely challenging, as she faced the pressure of a lean income while building a brand from scratch, and the daily juggle of entrepreneurship and motherhood to three daughters.
Without a well-known logo behind her, she spent as much time reintroducing herself to the market as she did completing her work.
In response, her focus shifted to smaller projects to keep the lights on, and InPursuit gradually moved into small- and medium-scale solar and battery storage, persistently building its track record.
Eventually, the technical groundwork and reputation Mtshizane had built paid off.
In 2023, Absa appointed the company as a preferred service provider for branch-level energy solutions in Gauteng – the company’s first significant breakthrough in the alternative energy field.
Within the space of a year, revenue increased nearly tenfold, from just under R700,000 in 2022 to R6.4m in 2023.
Simultaneously, her team began to scale, growing to a 14-person, multidisciplinary group by late 2024, bolstering the company’s engineering, logistics, administration, and finance capacity.
Over the past 12 months alone, InPursuit has deployed more than 70 projects across Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, and the Eastern Cape, and reached another milestone.
“Every small energy company dreams of building at least a megawatt. By 2024, we had built two. For us, that was a game-changer,” Mtshizane notes proudly.
An IPP for Johannesburg
However, the most significant inflexion point to date occurred in December 2024, when City Power appointed InPursuit as an IPP to deliver a 5MW natural-gas-to-energy plant, with offtake contracted for at least three years starting from 2026.
A crucial partner in this next chapter for the business has been the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency (GGDA).
The connection began with a chance meeting between a GGDA representative and a community member at a community exhibition.
Following a vetting process to ensure alignment with the GGDA’s goals, their collaboration commenced.
Within weeks, GGDA’s team had mapped out environmental permitting pathways with provincial authorities and opened doors for InPursuit to critical gas-supply partners, including Egoli Gas and Sasol.
The agency now conducts weekly check-ins to address any regulatory issues that arise regarding the IPP.
“We would never have been able to make this amount of progress in four months without the GGDA.
“Sometimes they’re even a step ahead of us, pushing things forward. That kind of support changes everything for an entrepreneur,” she says.
“They’ve applied constructive pressure to the process, and with their intervention, we’ve had many key introductions and interactions at the right time for our business.”
Broadening horizons
This support has given InPursuit the confidence to broaden its horizons even further.
“We now feel more courageous to pursue the dream of building a full portfolio of independent power projects, particularly in gas-to-energy, and perhaps even hydrogen.
“In the meantime, we’re focused on growing our corporate client base and on training artisans, because we believe that the Just Energy Transition cannot just be about businesses that are already established in the industry.
“It must also open doors for young people joining the industry and small businesses within the value chain.”
To date, InPursuit has trained more than 200 young people as solar and energy-efficiency artisans across six provinces as part of its commitment.
Many of these artisans have gone on to start their own companies.
“That’s the part I love most – seeing livelihoods change. Energy projects often come with huge investments, and those investments must benefit communities, not just the companies involved.”
What drives her now is legacy.
“I want my daughters and other young women to see that they can take up space in areas like engineering and technology.
“And I want Africa’s energy solutions to carry our unique signature, while changing lives in the process.”
