South Africa Moves A Step Closer to 540 MW Solar and 1.1 GW Storage With Scatec PPA Signing

Oslo, Norway headquartered, Scatec ASA has signed a power purchase agreement for three co-located solar and storage projects under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP) alongside the South African government. The PPA will run for 20 years. This agreement also included 540MW of solar power capacity. With this, South Africa is one step closer to a significant ramp up in its solar and storage capacity. Originally scheduled to be completed by the middle of this year, the project should be completed by the end of this year or early next year. Financial closing is expected to be done in the next 60 days from the date of PPA signing.

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Scatec will control 51% of the project's equity, with H1 Holdings, its local Black Economic Empowerment partner, owning the remaining 49%.

The project will supply 150 MW of dispatchable renewable energy from 05:00 a.m hrs to 9:30 p.m based on a hybrid installation of 540 MW solar PV capacity and 1.1 GW battery storage.

For ESCOM, the state owned utility that has been in the line of fire for its coal fired stations, poor transmission grid and inability to meet demand, the project will be a welcome addition to the grid.

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The BESS will allow ESKOM and Scatec to more easily dispatch electricity and lower the amount of the grid link required to integrate the new resources.