The deal represents the first 75 megawatt (MW) phase of Solar Capitals 300 MW photovoltaic project. Construction is scheduled to begin next June. A spokesperson told pv magazine that due to confidentiality agreements, the equipment suppliers cannot yet be unveiled. However, they did say that 550 construction jobs will be created.
It was originally announced back at the start of November that the project would be 360 MW. However, the spokesperson said that this has been scaled back.
The deal is said to be worth ZAR18 billion (around 1.6 billion; US$2.2 billion). "Solar Capital plans to invest over ZAR2 billion, and will be bidding for additional licenses for its 50,000 hectares of land, in the Northern and Western Cape provinces," explained the company in a statement released. The spokesperson added that a leading South African bank will also be investing in the project.
Overall, Solar Capital says it will develop 25 solar farms in the Northern Cape, due to the high irradiation levels. The statement continued, "The solar farms are located in areas of excessive sunshine that makes this land arid and non-productive for agricultural purposes."
Popular content
This content is protected by copyright and may not be reused. If you want to cooperate with us and would like to reuse some of our content, please contact: editors@pv-magazine.com.
Share
Becky Beetz
By submitting this form you agree to pv magazine using your data for the purposes of publishing your comment.
Your personal data will only be disclosed or otherwise transmitted to third parties for the purposes of spam filtering or if this is necessary for technical maintenance of the website. Any other transfer to third parties will not take place unless this is justified on the basis of applicable data protection regulations or if pv magazine is legally obliged to do so.
You may revoke this consent at any time with effect for the future, in which case your personal data will be deleted immediately. Otherwise, your data will be deleted if pv magazine has processed your request or the purpose of data storage is fulfilled.
Further information on data privacy can be found in our Data Protection Policy.