South Africa will be getting its first solar and battery power projects soon, thanks to Norwegian renewable energy company Scatec ASA. The company is beginning construction in the Northern Cape and will supply 150 megawatts (MW) of dispatchable electricity to the grid. Once open for business, the project will have a total solar power capacity of 540 MW and a battery storage capacity of 1,140MWh (225MW).
In total, there will be three projects in the Kenhardt region of the Northern Cape. The projects will supply power to Kenhardt for twenty years as part of a power-purchase agreement.
Solar is coming
“This project is a first of its kind and will be one of the world’s largest solar and battery facilities.” Said Scatec CEO Terje Pilskog.
Throughout Scatec’s history, the company has never attempted a project as large as this. In total, Scatec will own 51% of the project, with the other 49% being owned by H1 Holdings. Overall, the project has a value of R13.7 billion.
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Scatec will control the engineering, procurement, and construction of the project. After construction, Scatec will also handle maintenance and operations of the plants. Great. Seeing as South Africa can barely keep its own lights on, this will be a nice change of pace.
Of South Africa’s eleven’s preferred emergency power bidder projects, Scatec’s three are the only solar projects available.
As time goes on, we’ll see whether Scatec will uphold its end of the deal. There’s no word yet on when we can expect the projects to finish. The sooner, the better. At least there’s construction happening in the alternate generation front.
Source: MyBroadband