The 75 MW Umoyilanga hybrid project, which combines solar, wind and battery storage technologies across two sites to produce dispatchable electricity, has taken a step closer to its full commercial operations date (COD) with construction completed at the Dassiesridge site in the Eastern Cape.

The project, which was one of the winning bidders under South Africa’s troubled Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) that was overshadowed by the powership bids, is being developed by a consortium involving EDF power solutions and investment company Perpetua Holdings.

The project reached commercial and financial close in November 2023, having been named a preferred bidder under the RMIPPPP in March 2021.

Umoyilanga comprises two projects that are 900-km apart that will operate as a virtual power plant once completed, providing 75 MW of dispatchable electricity from 05:00 to 21:30 in line with the requirements of the 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

The two sites include Avondale in the Northern Cape, with 115 MW of solar PV and 30 MW/90 MWh of battery storage, and Dassiesridge in the Eastern Cape, with 63 MW of wind and 45 MW/115 MWh of battery storage.

Dassiesridge entered into provisional commercial operation on December 5, 2025, following a two-year construction phase involving key contractors Power Construction and Adenco, for the balance of plant, and Vestas, which supplied the wind turbines.

EDF power solutions said the Dassiesridge facility will now start delivering a “net dependable capacity of 55 MW to the grid”, in line with the terms of the PPA signed with the National Transmission Company South Africa on August 30, 2023.

The provisional period will continue until Umoyilanga achieves its full COD upon the commissioning of the Avondale plant.

“Our focus now shifts fully to optimising dispatched energy with Dassiesridge, and resolving outstanding issues at Avondale, to achieve full COD as early as possible in 2026,” Umoyilanga project director Gregoire de Montgolfier said in a statement.