South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has announced the results of the fifth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). This resulted in the allocation of 2,583 MW of renewable energy capacity to 25 projects with capacities ranging from 75 to 140 MW.
The lowest bid of $0.02279 was submitted for a 124 MW wind facility planned for construction in Hantam, Northern Cape, while the lowest price for solar technology was $0.02481 for six 75 MW solar parks planned for construction in Tokologo, an administrative area in the Lejweleputswa District of the Free State region.
According to an official statement, till date the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa has procured and signed agreements with 93 IPPs totalling 7,308 MW. The Renewable Energy IPP Bid Window 5 was released in April 2021. Bid Window 5 aimed to procure a total of 2,600 MW, which includes 1,600 MW from onshore wind and 1,000 MW from solar PV plants. The programme attracted a total of 102 bids with capacity totalling 9,644 MW.
REGlobal’s Views: South Africa is the most mature renewable energy market in Africa with a high capacity in solar as well as wind power installations. Although, renewable energy growth became sluggish in South Africa after 2018 as the state-owned utility Eskom began refusing to sign PPAs with developers during that time, things have slowly started improving since then with the government focusing on large scale integration of renewable energy into the grid.
