- The 75 megawatt Umoyilanga hybrid power project has moved closer to full commercial operation following the completion of construction at the Dassiesridge site in the Eastern Cape.
- The project brings together solar, wind and battery storage technologies across two distant sites to deliver dispatchable electricity to South Africa’s grid.
Umoyilanga was selected as one of the preferred projects under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme. The project is being developed by a consortium consisting of EDF Power Solutions and Perpetua Holdings. It reached commercial and financial close in November 2023 after being named a preferred bidder in March 2021.
The two production sites, located 900 kilometres apart, will operate as a single virtual power plant once commissioned. Together they will supply 75 megawatts of dispatchable power from early morning until late evening under a twenty-year power purchase agreement with the National Transmission Company South Africa.
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The Avondale site in the Northern Cape includes 115 megawatts of solar photovoltaic generation supported by 30 megawatts and 90 megawatt hours of battery storage. Dassiesridge hosts 63 megawatts of wind generation and 45 megawatts and 115 megawatt hours of battery storage. Construction at Dassiesridge concluded after a two-year build and the site entered provisional commercial operation on 5 December 2025.
EDF Power Solutions confirmed that Dassiesridge will now supply a net dependable capacity of 55 megawatts to the national grid during the provisional period. Full commercial operation of the Umoyilanga project will follow once the Avondale plant is commissioned.
“Our focus now shifts fully to optimising dispatched energy with Dassiesridge and resolving outstanding issues at Avondale to achieve full commercial operation as early as possible in 2026,” said Umoyilanga project director Gregoire de Montgolfier.
Umoyilanga is designed to demonstrate that renewable energy can provide reliable and flexible power at competitive cost. The project’s operating strategy relies on matching complementary wind and solar resources with battery storage. At Dassiesridge, batteries will normally charge from wind generation during the night before discharging in the early morning. Avondale’s solar capacity will supply most of the daytime energy while excess daytime solar generation will charge batteries for evening use. A centralised energy management system will coordinate both sites in real time based on weather forecasts and grid requirements.
Over its two-decade operating period, Umoyilanga is expected to provide low carbon electricity equivalent to the needs of about 120,000 households based on Eskom’s average residential consumption.
To deliver the project, EDF Renewables has partnered with several major contractors. China Energy Engineering Corporation is providing engineering, procurement and construction services for the Avondale solar plant. Vestas is responsible for turbine supply and installation at Dassiesridge. Power Construction and Adenco are delivering the wind balance of plant works, while Sungrow is supplying battery systems for both sites.
The project committed to creating about 890 job year opportunities for South African citizens during construction and to sourcing more than 40 percent of capital expenditure from local suppliers. Over the twenty-year operational period, one percent of annual revenue will be allocated to socio economic development initiatives in surrounding communities.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
