South Africa to auction 1.8GW later this year

SOUTH AFRICA: The country plans to auction about 1.8GW of renewable energy projects later this year, energy ministry Jeff Radebe has announced.

by Craig Richard 4 June 2018

A Vestas turbine at Iberdrola's 27MW Klipheuwel wind farm in South Africa's Western Cape

There is no date currently set for what will be the fifth round of bidding under South Africa’s renewables procurement plan (REIPP).

The minister of energy’s announcement follows the signing of 27 power purchase agreements (PPAs) in April — three years after allocations were awarded in a REIPP tender for 2.3GW.

Wind projects accounted for 1.4GW in the tender in April 2015, while solar PV and solar CSP were also successful.  

Announcing the auction for later this year , energy minister Radebe stated that the tender could be worth between ZAR40 billion (US$3.15 billion) and ZAR50 billion in investment opportunities.

South Africa has a little over 2GW of installed wind capacity.