Name of the Project
BESIPPPP – Bid Window (BW) 3.

Location
Free State, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

Project Description
The DMRE released the request for proposals (RfP) for the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) on March 28, 2024.

The RfP calls for a total of 616 MW/2 464 MWh of battery energy storage projects allocated to five preselected substation sites in the Free State – Harvard, Leander, Theseus, Everest, and Merapi – identified by Eskom.

The submission date is July 31, 2024.

Further information on accessing the RfP for BW 3 can be obtained on the IPP projects website at www.ipp-storage.co.za.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The deadline for South Africa’s recently launched BW3 has been extended by three months to October 31, following a recent deadline extension for the concurrent second battery bidding round from April 30 to June 6.

The extension was granted on May 8, following requests from prospective bidders and amid ongoing congestion in securing grid-access cost estimate letters (CELs) from Eskom.

An IPP requires a grid CEL to submit a compliant bid and can apply for a budget quote only once selected as a preferred bidder.

Independent Power Producers (IPP) Office head Bernard Magoro also announced a two-month extension, from six to eight months, for IPPs to achieve commercial close after the BW3 preferred bidders were selected – a milestone currently scheduled to take place two months after the October 31 submission date. Commercial operation is then expected within 24 months from commercial close.

The revision to the schedule has been made to provide IPPs with sufficient time to fulfil the conditions for commercial close in light of the prevailing Interim Grid Capacity Allocation Rules, or IGCAR. It is taking Eskom six months to complete the processes required for advancing the CELs to grid connection budget quotes.

Despite the extensions, the IPP Office has urged prospective BESIPPPP BW3 bidders, as well as those participating in other concurrent public procurement processes, not to delay too long in approaching Eskom with CEL applications, as the Eskom Grid Access Unit is currently inundated with applications for public and private projects.

The realignment of the timeframes for BESIPPPP BW2 and BW3 follows a series of other delays to South Africa’s procurement for renewable energy, gas-to-power (GtP) and storage since the resumption of public procurement in 2020, including the seventh renewables bid window, for which the deadline was extended from April 30 to May 30.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
DMRE, email mediadesk@energy.gov.za or media@dmre.gov.za.
IPP Projects, tel +27 87 351 3000 or email info@ipp-projects.co.za.