REIPPP: One of the world’s best renewable energy tenders, but there’s room for improvement
South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) never ceases to amaze in terms of how different, exciting, competitive, and tough project bid submissions can be from one round to the next.
South African miner tenders 70 MW solar plant
Exxaro Resources wants to generate clean electricity for its Grootegeluk site in Limpopo province and has opened a tender for the EPC and operations contract.
Gransolar switches on 63 MW solar plant in South Africa
The PV project, near the agricultural town of Douglas, is expected to generate enough clean electricity to power 20,000 households.
Legal dispute over South African content rules in 2 GW tech-neutral tender
The South African Department of Mineral Resources launched a tech-neutral procurement process for 2 GW of capacity in August 2020, in response to a chronic short-term electricity supply gap in the country.
Mobile solar unit to power green hydrogen at platinum mine
A 600 kW, container-based solar array will be used to electrolyze green hydrogen at a mine in Limpopo, South Africa after Engie signed a two-year lease for the mobile system, at Anglo American’s Mogalakwena site.
First African solar project capacity financed under €5m crowdfunding-backed partnership
Swedish platform Trine, which offers people the chance to invest in solar from as little as €25, has announced plans to generate €5 million credit for South African solar leasing partner Solarise Africa.
Sixty-three PV projects to compete in South Africa’s 2.6 GW renewables tender
The South African authorities have published the list of projects competing in the the fifth round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP). It seeks to procure 1 GW of PV and 1.6 GW of wind power.
South Africa raises threshold for distributed generation to 100 MW
The new provisions were published in the country’s official journal on Friday and are now in force. Large scale PV plants of up to 100 MW may be built without requesting a license, through a simplified procedure with the national regulator.
South African state lender launches call to finance PV, wind projects
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has announced plans to support the construction of wind and solar plants ranging in size from 10 MW to 75 MW.
South Africa installed 1.3 GW of PV last year
Around 800 MW of last year’s new additions came from ground-mounted solar plants, and the remaining 500 MW from distributed generation.
