Mantashe signs Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme worth R14.6 billion

South Africa - Cape Town - 29 March 2019 - Marlenique Estate is a fruit farm and a wedding venue in Simondium near Franschhoek. The farm unveiled a state of the art, floating solar PV system earlier this month. The system has been installed by New South Energy on the farm’s dam, helping to generate clean energy, while also minimising evaporation from the farm’s dam and saving valuable agricultural land. The system is the first commercially operated floating solar system on the continent, and at 60kWp, it is also the largest. The first phase of the project, which also includes a land-based solar installation on the farm, will allow the farm to run 90% of its energy intensive cold storage, irrigation and wedding venue facilities off of the traditional electricity grid. Picture: Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Aug 31, 2023

Johannesburg - Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe, has signed project agreements with an additional two preferred bidders appointed under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).

The agreements are worth R14.6 billion.

According to the department, the two projects, totalling 203MW, are both hybrid renewable projects, which consist of a combination of solar PV, onshore wind, and battery storage technologies.

“The projects will have up to December 2023 to finalise conditions precedent to conclude financial close and start with project construction.

“The new generation's capacity is expected to be online from 2025 on.

“This brings the total number of projects that have signed agreements under the RMIPPPP to five out of the 11 preferred bidders appointed, which will add a total of 353MW of dispatchable capacity to the national grid.

“The first three RMIPPPP projects that signed agreements in June 2022 are currently in construction and are set to reach commercial operation in November 2023,” added the department.

The department said that these projects will contribute a total of 3 966 job year opportunities in the construction and operation of these power plants and will also contribute over R610 million over their 20-year lifetime on skills development, supplier development, enterprise development, and socio-economic development initiatives in the communities within which they operate.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) wishes to congratulate all preferred bidders on achieving these milestones.

The new projects that have signed project agreements are as follows:

Project Name: Oya Energy Hybrid Facility

Main Developer and Equity Shareholders: GDF International SA, G7 Power, Meadows Oya Energy, and Perpetua RMI4P Oya

Contracted Capacity (MW): 128MW

Location: Matjiesfontein, Western Cape

Project Name: Umoyilanga Energy

Main Developer and Equity Shareholders: EDF Renewables and Perpetua Holdings

Contracted Capacity (MW): 75MW

Location: Avondale, Northern Cape, and Dassiesridge, Eastern Cape

The Star