The Department of Electricity and Energy (DEE) of South Africa has selected six solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 1,290 MW as preferred bidders in the seventh bid window (BW7) of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The bidding round was launched in December 2023 offered 5 GW of renewable capacity, including 3.2 GW of onshore wind and 1.8 GW of solar PV, and attracted 40 solar projects totalling 8,526 MW and only 8 onshore wind projects totalling 1,692 MW (none of them advanced to the preferred-bidder stage).
The six solar PV projects are all located in the Free State province and achieved competitive bid prices of between ZAR499.99/MWh and ZAR514.06/MWh (US$28.5-29.3/MWh). Three projects are developed by Scatec, namely 293 MW Oslaagte Solar 2, 293 MW Oslaagte Solar 3, and 260 MW Leeuwspruit Solar, constituting the 846 MW Kroonstad PV cluster. The estimated total project cost for the solar cluster project is ZAR13bn (US$740m). A consortium of Red Rocket South Africa, MBY Energy and Jade-Sky Energy, will develop the three other projects, namely the 210 MW Virginia 4 Solar Park, the 200 MW Florida Solar Park, and the 180 MW Dwaalboom 3 Solar project.
The DEE has also appointed a further eight compliant preferred bidders, subject to value for money negotiations.
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