South African developer, BioTherm Energy, has become the second company to reveal successful bids for solar projects in the latest round of its home nation's flagship renewables programme.
The company, which built two PV power plants under the first round of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), said it had been selected as a preferred bidder in round four, with successful tenders for one wind and two PV projects.
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The South African government has not yet officially revealed preferred bidders in the round-four tender, but BioTherm is the second company this week to go public on having won bids, with Norway’s Scatec Solar making a similar announcement on Monday.
BioTherm’s two solar projects are the 45MW Aggeneys and 86MW Konkoonsies II PV facilities, both of which will be located in the Northern Cape province. Its wind project, the 120MW Golden Valley facility, will be built in the Eastern Cape. The three projects will have a combined investment value of ZAR4.5 billion (US$369.5 million), according to the company.
BioTherm Energy’s CEO Jasandra Nyker said: “This 251MW allocation by the DOE reflects our ability to compete directly with leading international players who have come to dominate the South African landscape. We appreciate the DOE’s commitment to supporting a South African development and investment platform in this round.”
The company said it was looking at other opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, with Zambia, Uganda and Burkina Faso cited as countries it was exploring.
The public announcement of the preferred bidders in the fourth round of the REIPPPP has been delayed since November, with grid constraint issues faced by state utility Eskom blamed for the hold up.
PV Tech understands the full announcement by the government is due imminently.
