Independent power producer Scatec has signed power purchase agreements (PPA) for three co-located solar and storage projects in South Africa that include 540MW of PV capacity.
The Norway-based company has signed the PPAs for the three Kenhardt projects in Northern Cape. They will provide dispatchable energy resources to grid operator ESKOM to help reduce shortfalls in capacity on the grid, procured under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
Scatec’s three projects, which pair 540MW of solar PV with 1.1GWh of battery energy storage system (BESS) capacity, will provide 150MW of dispatchable energy from 5 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. The BESS will enable the flexible dispatch of energy and allow ESKOM and Scatec to reduce the size of the grid connection needed to integrate the new resources.
They are the only fully renewable resources awarded PPAs under the RMIPPPP tender, and will provide power under a 20-year agreement. Scatec will cover all engineering, procurement and construction (EPC), operation & maintenance (O&M) and asset management services for the projects.
Financial close is expected within 60 days of the PPA signature date (2 June) and construction will begin thereafter although an expected commissioning date hasn’t been revealed. When Scatec was awarded preferred bidder status, the resources were expected to be up and running by the middle of this year.
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