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South African government has extended the bidding deadline for its ongoing bid window 5 RFP.
- The projects are expected to be grid-connected by April 2024.
- South Africa intends to award 1 GW of solar PV and 1.6 GW of wind power projects.
The South African government has extended the bidding deadline for its ongoing tender for 2.6 GW of wind and solar capacity. The project will have to be grid-connected by April 2024 at the latest, the government said.
The Department of Energy announced that the deadline for proposals would now be August 16 instead of August 4. Preferred bidders will be announced two months later in October-November. If selected, developers will need to reach a financial close on their projects by March 2022.
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The current bid Window 5 request for proposals (RFP) was issued on March 5 as part of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme. Under the REIPPP, the government intends to award 1 GW of solar PV and 1.6 GW of wind power projects. Solar projects of up to 75 MW and wind projects of less than 140 MW are eligible to compete.
South Africa is committed to deploying 11.8 GW of new capacity from renewables, natural gas, battery storage and coal-fired plants to meet growing electricity demand. About 4.8 GW will be generated from wind and 2 GW from solar capacity, while around 500 MW would be provided by energy storage.