- The first round involves attaining projects with 5MW to 20MW capacities
- The second phase involves projects larger than 20MW
- The project is also to reduce reliance on Eskom
The city of Cape Town in South Africa has begun a procurement process for up to 300MW of renewable energy capacity. The first round will involve procuring independent power producer (IPP) projects with capacities ranging from 5MW to 20MW, with solar photovoltaic (PV) technology being used extensively.
According to Geordin Hill-Lewis, developers will be able to submit proposals for generation-only, generation-plus-storage, and storage-only projects. In addition, the program’s second phase will include the tendering of projects larger than 20MW. Hill-Lewis was quoted in the local press as saying that a tender for the second phase will be released soon.
The purchase is part of a larger effort to reduce Cape Town’s reliance on South African utility Eskom and the issue of frequent load-shedding, in which utilities turn off power to specific groups of customers when a lack of capacity threatens the entire system. “We’ve taken the first big step toward making Cape Town the first load-shedding-free city in South Africa,” Hill-Lewis said.
Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power reached a financial close on the 100MW Redstone concentrated solar power (CSP) independent power producer (IPP) project in South Africa in May 2021, according to Energy & Utilities.
The Central Energy Fund, Pele Green Energy, and the local community are ACWA Power’s project co-shareholders. The Redstone IPP will be built with a 12-hour thermal storage system, allowing electricity to be dispatched in the evening. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the project is expected to be operational.