- The projects will provide about 3,966 job opportunities through the construction and operation of the power plants.
- The project’s construction will commence after conditions for financial close are finalised by December 2023.
South Africa’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, has signed two new hybrid renewable project agreements. The two projects, totalling 203MW (megawatt), combine solar photovoltaic (PV), onshore wind and battery storage technologies.
The agreement came with two more preferred bidders appointed under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). This brings the total number of signed project agreements under the RMIPPPP to five of the eleven preferred bidders appointed, adding 353MW of dispatchable capacity to the national grid.
The new hybrid renewable projects will provide about 3,966 job opportunities through the construction and operation of the power plants. The projects will also contribute over R610 million over its 20-year lifetime on skills development, supplier development, enterprise development, and socio-economic development initiatives in the communities where they operate.
The newly signed project agreements are Oya Energy Hybrid Facility and Umoyilanga Energy, with 128MW and 75MW Contracted Capacity, respectively. The project’s construction will commence after conditions for financial close are finalised by December 2023. The new generation capacity is expected to be online from 2025 onwards.
The first three RMIPPPP Projects that signed agreements in June 2022 are currently in construction, set to reach commercial operation in November 2023. The department said the total investment attracted from the projects that have signed agreements today is R14.6 billion, a substantial economic input.