More than two years since G7 Renewable Energies and EDF Renewables were announced as preferred bidders in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), their projects, totalling 203 MW, are finally gaining traction.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) on September 1 welcomed the news announcing the bidders’ legal close in the RMIPPPP, with the companies having signed 20-year power purchase agreements and implementation agreements with State-owned power utility Eskom and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, respectively.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe announced these companies as preferred bidders in the RMIPPPP, which comprises 11 projects for 2 000 MW, in March 2021.

The projects are expected to reach financial closure soon, following which construction will start before the end of the year.

The projects are expected to come online from 2025 onwards and attract R14.6-billion of investment. It will also create just under 4 000 jobs in the construction and operation phases.

Both of the bidders’ projects will incorporate wind, solar and storage technology on a utility scale – which is a first for the South African government’s procurement programmes.

The 128 MW Oya Energy hybrid plant will be located in Matjiesfontein, in the Western Cape, while the 75 MW Umoyilanga Energy plant will be built across two sites at Avondale, in the Northern Cape, and Dassiesridge, in the Eastern Cape.

SAWEA says these projects will not only add new renewable power generation to the grid, but, as hybrid projects, enhance the reliability and stability of the power generation system of the country.

The projects will showcase the complementary nature of solar photovoltaic power, which produces power during the day, and wind, which produces most of its power during the morning and evening peak times. This combined with battery storage means dispatchable power when it is most needed at night, says SAWEA CEO Niveshen Govender.

Moreover, more than R610-million is expected to be directed towards local development for host communities over the 20-year lifetimes of the projects.

The RMIPPPP’s long journey began early 2020 with the Energy Minister’s Determination, resulting in the 2 000 MW Ministerial Determination being gazetted on July 7, 2020, following public consultation undertaken by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. 

The request for proposals was released to market by August 2020, with the preferred bidders announced in March 2021.  

“The announcement this week, concludes the signing of five of the 11 preferred bidders, totalling 353 MW, and marks the first hybrid projects that include wind energy.

“We know that the first three of these IPPs, which signed agreements in June last year, are currently in construction, and look forward to these two newly signed projects reaching financial close and beginning construction, thereby bringing much needed new generation capacity into the system in 2025,” concludes Govender.