South Africa has signed project agreements with additional two preferred bidders appointed under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), in Pretoria for two hybrid projects. Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy has finalised an agreement of 203 MW with bidders. The projects consist of a combination of battery storage technologies, solar PV and onshore wind.
Oya energy hybrid facility project which has a capacity of 128 MW is being developed by GDF International SA, G7 Power, Meadows Oya Energy and is located at Matjiesfontein, Western Cape. Meanwhile, Umoyilanga Energy project with a capacity of 75 MW is being developed by EDF Renewables and is located Avondale, Northern Cape and Dassiesridge, Eastern Cape. Furthermore, the projects have time till December 2023 to finalise conditions precedent to conclude financial close and begin project construction. The new generation capacity is anticipated to go online from 2025.
In August 2023, the National Treasury of South Africa introduced a loan guarantee scheme – the ‘Energy Bounce Back’ to support commercial and industrial (C&I) solar projects. The scheme had an objective of setting up 1 GW of rooftop PV capacity. It also attempted to help micro and informal companies to be more resilient to loadshedding.
REGlobal’s Views: This brings the total number of projects that have signed agreements under the RMIPPPP to five out of the 11 preferred bidders appointed in 2021, which will add a total of 353 MW of dispatchable capacity to the national grid. South Africa continues to be one of the leading renewable energy markets in Africa with a mature industry. However, the country needs to address certain regulatory issues to ensure sustained growth.
