South African independent power producer (IPP) Anthem has begun construction on a 475MW solar PV project, the “largest” single-phase solar site in South Africa.
The Notsi project is located in South Africa’s central Free State province and began construction this week. It is contracted under long-term power purchase agreements (PPA) with energy trading firms Discovery Green and NOA. On Tuesday, the company announced it had reached financial close on the Notsi project. The funds were provided by Standard Bank, and Anthem said the site is valued at R9 billion (US$530,000).
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Construction is expected to take approximately 26 months, finishing in early summer 2028. The project will be built by the China Energy Engineering Corporation and the Northwest Electric Power Design Institute.
“By supplying renewable energy to corporate and commercial off-takers, the Notsi project supports the growing aggregator market, enables corporate decarbonisation and supports South Africa’s transition to lower‑carbon, more sustainable energy consumption,” said Mike Wickins, CCO of Anthem.
While currently a standalone PV project, Anthem CEO James Cumming said there is a “strong possibility that battery storage will be added as costs continue to decline and the need for grid flexibility increases.” Anthem said it has already secured environmental permission to add an energy storage system to the site.
In addition to storage, the company said it is building a transmission substation as part of the project, which it said will address the lack of strong grid infrastructure in South Africa. The substation will be transferred to the national grid operator, Eskom, at a later date.
“By investing in its own grid connection and utilising a high-capacity transformer, the company aims to manage costs effectively while ensuring reliable power delivery,” Anthem said.
In November, South Africa announced a commitment to add over 28GW of new solar PV capacity to its grid by 2039. Unveiling the country’s latest integrated resource plan (IRP), Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the South African minister of electricity and energy, said the plan “ensures security of electricity supply necessary by balancing supply with demand, while optimising the environmental impact and total cost of supply”.
