- South Africa extends deadline for RMIPPPP
- The initial deadline was set for July
- The new deadline is set for September 30th 2021
The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has extended the deadline for commercial close of projects under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). The initial deadline, which was for the end of July, has been extended to September 30th.
The DMRE confirmed the extension and noted that the change in the deadline had been communicated to the preferred bidders on July 29th. The DMRE also added that the extension would not affect other procurement programmes already scheduled for launch later this year.
According to Engineering News & Mining Weekly, the DMRE stated that the deadline extension allowed for ”finalisation of the regulatory processes, including Eskom board approvals and related Public Finance Management Act approvals”. Recall, Karpowership SA, the successful bidder for the 1,220MW project, was refused the environmental permit required for its projects at the ports of Richards Bay, Ngqura and Saldanha Bay.
The DMRE stressed that the extension applied to all preferred bidders and refused to comment on the status of the Karpowership SA projects saying, ”any queries regarding the progress of any particular bidder should be directed at the relevant project company.”