A long-term energy company
Energy for the long run.
Zovara Energy builds energy projects for the long term. The first, a used-oil re-refining plant in South Africa, is in development. The ambition runs a good deal further.
Everything ahead of us runs on energy.
Every advance we make draws down power. Making that power clean and steady enough to count on takes decades. Zovara was built for that kind of patience, and it starts with one plant.
Zovara Energy is a South African long-term energy company. Its first plant re-refines used oil into diesel. It is the first of a series.
Based in
Johannesburg, South Africa
Founded by
Ledain Addleson and Kai Viljoen
Stage
Plant One in development, targeting 2027
Plant One
Our first plant is being developed in South Africa.
It re-refines used lubricating oil, a hazardous waste, into diesel to the national specification, and it is the first of a planned series.
Status: in development. Technology selected, feasibility complete. Development capital being raised. Site selection under way in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. Updated September 2026.
Plant One, in seven lines.
Every plant in the series will be described with the same seven rows. When a row changes, the date changes with it.
Feedstock
Used lubricating oil, collected from registered generators with chain-of-custody documentation.
Process
The plant removes water, metals and contaminants, then separates the oil into fuel fractions. A modular unit, proven in operation elsewhere, sized to run continuously.
Product
Diesel, certified to the South African standard, SANS 342, before a litre is sold.
Designed capacity
In the order of 6.5 million litres of diesel a year at full capacity. A design figure, not yet demonstrated.
Buyers
Registered industrial buyers under contract, mining first. Never cash, never the informal market.
Site
South Africa. Selection under way in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, close to feedstock and to the industry that buys the product.
First product
Targeted for 2027, subject to financing and permitting.
In development.
Stage, stated plainly, so that progress can be checked against it.
We have selected the technology, completed the feasibility study and defined the plant.
We have not yet secured a site, obtained authorisations or closed financing, and construction has not begun. The licences Plant One needs before it operates are listed at the foot of this page with their current status.
- TechnologySelected
- FeasibilityComplete
- Development capitalRaising now
- Site secured
- Authorisations
- Financial close
- First productTarget 2027
Proof before promise.
We develop and operate energy projects, and we are deliberate about where we begin.
Real assets
We build plants that run. Plant One is a modular unit, proven in operation elsewhere, inspected independently before acceptance. Each one has to earn its place before we build the next.
Sound economics
Every project is designed to pay for itself on fuel sales, to registered industrial buyers under contract. We have no interest in ventures that only work on subsidy.
Licensed, certified, then sold
Plant One operates only once its environmental authorisation, waste and emissions licences and fuel licences are in place, and its diesel is certified before it is sold.
Verified, not claimed
Every figure we stand behind can be checked by someone other than us. Where a number is a design figure or an estimate, we say so.
We measure progress in decades.
Plants two onward are at concept stage. A second South African plant follows once the first is operating; no sites are secured and no capital is committed to them.
Zovara is built to last as long as the world needs clean, dependable energy.
A serious company, built for a long mission.
Zovara Energy is a South African energy company based in Johannesburg. We build real projects and the discipline to run them well, starting small and growing with intent.
How the company is governed
Zovara operates from Johannesburg. The board is the two founders. An independent director and an audit function are planned at financial close.
Leadership
Ledain Addleson
Founder & Chief Executive Officer
Sets Zovara's strategy and leads its growth. Founder and operator for more than thirty years, most recently of Clearsky Energy and Clearsky Aviation, active in aviation fuel and diesel distribution. Zovara follows three years of developing the concept.
Kai Viljoen
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Technology Officer
Leads Zovara's operations and technology, from strategic partnerships to infrastructure and risk.
Further leadership and advisory profiles are shared with investors and partners on request.
The detail lives behind this door.
What we publish here is what any serious party can check. How the business makes money and how the plant gets built is shared directly with qualified investors and partners, under confidentiality.
- 01
Register interest
Tell us who you represent and in what capacity. Two minutes, no documents.
- 02
Investor brief
A non-confidential summary, by email, within one business day.
- 03
Confidentiality
Accept the standard NDA at the data-room entrance, or execute your own.
- 04
Data room
Corporate, licences with status, technical, model, offtake, legal. Per person, watermarked, logged.
- 05
Meetings and site
With the founders, at your request.
Or write to ledain@zovara.energy.
Intended for professional and institutional investors. This page is not an offer to the public.