Two solar photovoltaic (PV) projects selected as preferred bids under Bid Window 6 (BW6) of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy’s (DMRE’s) renewable energy procurement programme reached commercial close on April 30.

The projects, which were part of a group of six PV projects to advance to preferred-bidder status for a 1 000 MW allocation in 2022, have a combined capacity of 360 MW and a combined investment value of R4.9-billion.

During BW6 none of the wind projects vying for a 3 200 MW allocation were selected owing to grid-related constraints.

The DMRE said in a statement that the remaining four preferred bidders were finalising preparations for commercial close but were still hampered mostly by grid-access related challenges, as well as interdependencies between projects across bid windows.

“The department and IPP Office are working tirelessly with Eskom to resolve these challenges, to ensure that all projects can reach commercial close and start construction,” the DMRE said.

The two projects to have achieved the milestone, meanwhile, are the Virginia Solar Park, located in the Lejweleputswa district of the Free State and representing the province’s seventh publicly procured renewables project, and the Doornhoek PV project, which is the North West’s sixth public renewables project and located in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda district municipality.

To date, 95 independent power producer (IPP) projects, with a  collective capacity of 7 336 MW, have advanced under the bigger programme.

The Virginia Solar Park project is being implemented as a partnership between Red Rocket, Reatile,  Jade-Sky Energy and the Red Rocket Opportunity Trust, while the Doornhoek PV project is majority owned by AMEA Power, which has partnered with Ziyanda Energy and black-women-owned Dzimuzwo Consulting. South African entity participation in each project is 49%.

In a statement, Red Rocket said the Virginia Solar Park was located about 140-km north-east of Bloemfontein, and was the biggest solar farm procured under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme, with a contracted capacity of 240 MW and peak capacity of 275 MW.

CEO Matteo Brambilla welcomed the latest milestone by the company, which he said had consistently held its own against large multinationals to become a highly successful IPP in South Africa.

A joint venture between PowerChina and Green Whistle would build the Virginia Solar Park under a turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contract.

Construction on both solar projects is expected to take no more than 24 months with their generation capacity anticipated to come online by May 2026.

“In support of [addressing] the current economic challenges that South Africa is facing, the two projects have committed a total of 2 034 job opportunities (measured in job years),” the DMRE said, adding that R389-million would be spent on skills, supplier, enterprise and socioeconomic development over the 20-year lifetimes of the two plants.