- The project combines 442MW of PV with a 1,200MWh BESS scheduled to come online in the second quarter of 2026.
- The project would have 150MW of dispatchable power, which may indicate either the terms of the PPA or the power rating of the BESS.
Saudi-based independent power producer (IPP), ACWA Power, has signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with government bodies in South Africa for a solar-plus-storage project with a 1,200MWh BESS. ACWA announced signing the implementation agreement and a PPA for its Project DAO on Monday. The project combines 442MW of PV with a 1,200MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) scheduled to come online in the second quarter of 2026.
The firm said the project would have 150MW of dispatchable power, which may indicate either the terms of the PPA or the power rating of the BESS. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy of South Africa, Gwede Mantashe, signed the implementation agreement. In contrast, Segomoco Scheppers, senior general manager at transmission system operator (TSO) Eskom, signed the PPA.
Project DAO was declared one of the preferred bidders in the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Program (RMIPPPP) in 2021. Another project, a solar plus 1,440MWh BESS unit from IPP Scatec in Norway, started operations recently. Wind-plus-storage and solar-plus-storage projects from EDF Renewables will come online in 2025.