The South African government has reduced the designated local content requirement for solar modules – the portion of a module’s components that must be produced locally – from 100% to 30% as part of a swathe of actions designed to tackle load shedding and power outages in the country.
A new initiative, the Africa Renewable Energy Manufacturing Initiative (AREMI), has been launched with the aim to scale up renewable energy manufacturing capabilities in Africa.
The fifth bidding round of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme has signed power purchase agreements with 13 solar PV projects.
Scatec, the Norwegian independent power producer (IPP), has signed 273MW of power purchase agreements (PPAs) for solar projects in South Africa under the government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
Canadian Solar has signed a 256MW module supply agreement with South African independent power producer (IPP) SOLA Group. The modules will supply what Canadian Solar has said will be South Africa’s two largest solar PV plants.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) have launched a financing programme to support €400 million (US$413 million) worth of renewables investment in South Africa.
Talesun, the Chinese-headquartered solar manufacturer, and South African company ARTSolar have commenced operations at a 325MW PV module manufacturing facility.
The World Bank has approved funding for a US$497 million renewable energy project in South Africa that will see 150MW of solar and 70MW of wind capacity installed in place of the coal-fired Komati power plant.