News flash
- Chinese solar panel manufacturer, Trina Solar, has announced its partnership with China Energy International Group and China Gezhouba Group to power Mooi Plaats 240MW solar PV hybrid project in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
- The project is fronted by Envusa Energy, a partnership between mining giant Anglo American and french IPP, EDF Renewables.
In March 2022, Anglo-American and EDF signed a Memorandum of Understanding to explore the ecosystem’s development designed to meet Anglo-American’s operational power requirements in South Africa and support the resilience of the local electricity supply systems. Envusa Energy is set up as a trading entity to purchase energy from the generators and then sell the energy to the respective off-takers.
In December 2023, the Energy Regulator in South Africa, NERSA, approved that Envusa Energy (Pty) Ltd (Envusa Energy) be issued an electricity trading licence. Envusa Energy is a joint venture between Anglo-American and EDF Renewables South Africa (EDF).
Envusa Energy intends to buy electricity from three generators in the Northern Cape Province (Hartebeeshoek Wind Power (Pty) Ltd, 140MW; Mooi Plaats Solar Power (Pty) Ltd, 240MW; and Umsobomvu Wind Power (Pty) Ltd, 140MW). It also intends to sell to three customers (De Beers Consolidated Mines (Pty) Ltd, Limpopo; Rustenburg Platinum Mines (Pty) Ltd, North-West; and Sishen Iron Ore Company (Pty) Ltd, Northern Cape), with the contracted capacity of 140MW, 240MW and 140MW, respectively. The distributor is Eskom.T
The power generated from Mooi Plaats project will be connected to the Koruson substation, 12 km away via a 132 kV transmission line.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
