Abengoa breaks ground on two CSP projects in South Africa

November 7, 2012
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Reddit
Email

Abengoa has begun construction of its 50MW Khi Solar One solar tower and 100MW, KaXu Solar One parabolic trough plant in South Africa.

The two concentrating solar power plants (CSP) are part of 28 renewable energy projects the South African Department of Energy (DOE) intends to bring online in order to provide more renewable energy for the country’s grid.

This article requires Premium SubscriptionBasic (FREE) Subscription

Try Premium for just $1

  • Full premium access for the first month at only $1
  • Converts to an annual rate after 30 days unless cancelled
  • Cancel anytime during the trial period

Premium Benefits

  • Expert industry analysis and interviews
  • Digital access to PV Tech Power journal
  • Exclusive event discounts

Or get the full Premium subscription right away

Or continue reading this article for free

Abengoa will build, operate and maintain the plants and claim a 51% stake in the projects. The state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) holds 29% of the remaining ownership in the projects, while the Black Economic Empowerment programme claimed the remaining 20%.

The Khi Solar One and KaXu Solar One arrays will use Abengoa’s dry cooling technology, which is said to diminish water consumption by nearly two thirds when compared with other CSP plants. They hold a storage capacity of around two hours for the Khi project and three hours for KaXu. Abengoa noted the Khi Solar One project is its third commercial solar tower and its first outside of Spain. The tower will be 200m high and use over 4,500 heliostat moving mirrors.

The plants have signed a 20-year power purchase agreements with South African utility Eskom and closed project finance agreements with a group of South African and international finance institutions, including the European Investment Bank. The bank plans to invest €50 million (US$64 million) in the project, which is its first large CSP project in sub-Saharan Africa.

Both CSP installations are located in the Northern Cape Province near Upington and Pofadder, respectively.

Read Next

October 28, 2025
GreenYellow plans to invest US$116 million in Poland over the next three years to expand its installed capacity and customer base.
Premium
October 28, 2025
BESS are 'the new player that everyone is talking about,' in Europe’s power purchase agreement (PPA) space, according to LevelTen.
October 28, 2025
GoldenPeaks Capital secures EUR114 million (US$132 million) financing package for two solar PV Portfolio in Poland.
October 28, 2025
Navigating module procurement in this financial environment will be a key topic of conversation at the PV ModuleTech Europe 2025 event.
October 28, 2025
PV projects operate close to technical and financial limits, meaning that inaccurate inputs can have performance and profitability impacts.
October 28, 2025
Chinese solar inverter producer GoodWe has launched a new “low noise, low weight” string inverter for the European corporate & industrial solar market.

Subscribe to Newsletter

Upcoming Events

Upcoming Webinars
November 12, 2025
10am PST / 1pm EST
Solar Media Events
November 25, 2025
Warsaw, Poland
Solar Media Events
December 2, 2025
Málaga, Spain
Solar Media Events
February 3, 2026
London, UK
Solar Media Events
March 10, 2026
Frankfurt, Germany