Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has announced that three more wind projects have signed project agreements under the much-delayed fifth bid window (BW5) of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). Mantashe also confirmed that more BW5 projects would be signed in the coming weeks.

The three projects, to be built by Red Rocket South Africa, have a combined investment value of R9.3-billion and a combined nameplate of 364 MW.

The projects are the 140 MW Brandvalley Wind Farm and the 140 MW Rietkloof Wind Farm, located close to Laingsburg in the Western Cape, and the 84 MW Wolf Wind Farm, located near Jansenville in the Eastern Cape.

Mantashe noted that the signing of power purchase and implementation agreements with Red Rocket South Africa represented a milestone, as they were the one-hundredth since the launch of the independent power producer procurement programme in 2011. 

The Red Rocket projects have 60 days to conclude all obligations and conditions precedent in the implementation agreement, in order to start drawing down on their lending agreements and start construction.

Once the projects have reached financial close, the construction timeline is expected to be 24 months.

On September 22, the first three BW5 wind projects, which are being developed by EDF and have a combined capacity of 420 MW and a combined investment value of R11-billion, signed their project agreements.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) reported that two of the EDF projects reached commercial close on November 9 and that financial close would follow shortly.

Overall, a total of 2 600 MW, consisting of 1 600 MW of onshore wind and 1 000 MW solar photovoltaic (PV), was meant to be procured under BW5.

A total of 25 wind and solar PV projects were selected as preferred bids in October last year under the bid window, which was launched in April last year following a seven-year disruption to the REIPPPP after the then State-captured Eskom leadership refused to sign power purchase agreements with independent power producers.

The DMRE initially set a deadline of the end of October for all BW5 projects to sign their agreements, but the department confirmed with Engineering News this week that the deadline had again been extended after representations from the remaining BW5 preferred bidders, as well as the eight preferred bidders selected under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

“The department is engaging with each preferred bidder with regard to project readiness and timelines provided towards legal closure.

“It is anticipated that the signing of the next projects will take place during November 2022,” the DMRE told Engineering News amid calls for the projects to be abandoned and bid bonds called so that valuable grid capacity could be released for other projects.

The department said that announcements regarding the other BW5 projects would be communicated “once all governance processes on the side of government and the projects themselves have been concluded”.