Africa’s largest standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project, the 153 MW/ 612 MWh Red Sands project in the Northern Cape, has reached financial close, having raised some R5.4-billion in debt financing from Absa and Standard Bank.

The project was selected as a preferred bidder in 2024 following the first BESS public procurement bidding round, and is being developed by Globeleq in partnership with African Rainbow Energy.

The agreements opening the way for the projects were signed with the Department of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) on June 27 and the project officially achieved financial close on July 1.

Located near Upington in South Africa’s Northern Cape, the Red Sands project was originally developed by African Green Ventures and was acquired by Globeleq in 2023.

It will span a site of about five hectares and supply electricity to NTCSA under a 15-year power purchase agreement.

China Energy Engineering Corporation has been selected as the engineering and procurement contractor, with the BESS technology and long-term service agreement provided by Sungrow, a leader in inverter and BESS solutions. 

The development is expected to create around 250 jobs during construction and 80 jobs during operations, with Globeleq South Africa Management Services to manage the project during construction and into operation.

The project also includes significant upgrades to South Africa’s grid infrastructure and will provide ancillary services to the NTCSA.

Globeleq CEO Jonathan Hoffman said achieving financial close was a pivotal step in delivering Africa’s largest standalone battery storage project, while African Rainbow Energy CEO Brian Dames said it took the company closer to achieving its objective of providing affordable electricity from modern and renewable technologies.

To date, South Africa has procured a total of 1 744 MW/ 6 979 MWh of BESS capacity across three public procurement bid windows in line with the 2019 edition of the Integrated Resource Plan.