- South Africa to Announce preferred bidder for 5th round of REIPPP.
- This round will see the development of 2,600MW of clean energy.
- The energy department also plans to announce the procurement of 4.2GW by March 2022.
According to South Africa’s minister of mineral resources and energy, Gwede Mantashe, the Department will announce the preferred bidder for the procurement of 2,600MW of clean energy tendered under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) by the end of next month. During an oral presentation to the National Assembly last week, the minister stated, “the Department is in the process of procuring a further 6,800MW of renewable energy. From this proposal, 2,600MW will be under Bid Window 5, which is being evaluated, with the preferred bidder announcement planned for October 2021. The minister added that the Department would procure the remaining 4,200MW before the end of March next year.
So far, South Africa has procured about 6,422MW of clean energy through four tender rounds under the REIPPP. Of this capacity, about 5,422MW have already been connected to the grid, just under 10 per cent of the country’s total generation capacity. Mantashe also discussed the high costs of deploying renewable energy in South Africa, stating that most clean energy components are manufactured outside the country is also an inhibiting factor to the rapid deployment of clean energy. Mantashe added that the Department is currently looking to localise the manufacturing of clean energy components, resulting in job creation.
South Africa’s 2019 Integrated Resource Plan aims to add 14,400MW wind power, 6,000MW of solar and 2,088MW of battery storage by 2030.