South African state lender launches call to finance PV, wind projects

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The Green Climate Fund (GCF) – the world's largest climate fund dedicated to helping developing countries take climate action – and the state-owned Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have launched a call for proposals to provide financing to independent power producers (IPPs) interested in building embedded generation projects based on wind and solar under its Embedded Generation Investment Programme (EGIP).

“The DBSA has matched GCF’s $100 million funding, thus ensuring there is a funding contribution of $200 million toward the implementation of EGIP from the two institutions,” the document reads. “Approximately $84 million of the $200 million funding will be utilized to provide Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment funding to enable the participation and ownership of local communities and small, medium and micro enterprises in renewable energy projects under the program.”

Embedded generation in South Africa includes all power plants up to 10 MW in size. But according to the DBSA, the South African government has reportedly raised this threshold to 100 MW.

The recent announcement to exempt embedded generation projects up to 100 MW from having to apply for generation licenses is an impetus for the implementation of EGIP and the various shovel-ready embedded generation projects in the market,” it said in the request for proposal document.

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The selected projects must have secured power purchase agreements with industrial or commercial off-takers for a minimum of 15 years. The proposed projects should have completed feasibility studies, with all relevant permits and licenses. Their capacity will range between 10 MW and 75 MW.

Interested IPPs will have time until Sept. 30 to submit their proposals.

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