South Africa Launches 1.8 GW Solar Tender
Dec 26, 2023
South Africa's Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has launched the seventh round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
The government said it expects to allocate 3.2 GW of onshore generation and 1.8 GW of solar PV through the procurement exercise.
Interested developers have until 30 April to submit their bids.
The ministry said, "Bidders should take note of the available supply areas in the Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) 2025."
This is the first round of auctions held under a programme released by the South African government in December 2022 to procure 14,771 MW of new generation capacity, including 3.94 GW of solar, 9.6 GW of wind and 1.23 GW of energy storage.
For the sixth round of the REIPPPP programme, the South African authorities selected five solar plants with a total capacity of 860 MW at a final average price of ZAR 0.49048 ($0.027)/kWh, up 8% from ZAR 0.45423/kWh in the fifth round. The government had planned to allocate up to 1 GW of solar in the auction.
The fifth round of REIPPPP is scheduled to start in March 2021. Overall, the authority allocated 2.6 GW of installed renewable energy capacity across 25 projects ranging in size from 75 to 140 MW.
The sixth and fifth procurement rounds are part of the nearly 12 GW capacity bidding programme.
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), South Africa's installed photovoltaic (PV) capacity stood at 5,826 MW by the end of 2022.
