Watch the video: Minister Ramokgopa briefs the media on EAP for 2024 and announces the Preferred Bidders under RESIPPPP Bid Window 7 and BESIPPPP Bid Window 2
- The preferred bidders list for Bid Window 7 (BW7) of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), has been released by the IPP Office.
- BW 7 seeks to procure 3200 MW of wind and 1800 MW of solar power.
- The list of REIPPPP BW 7 Bids received in August 2024 revealed an under-subscription for wind technology at 1692MW while solar PV is oversubscribed with a total of 8526MW capacity.
Eight solar projects totalling 1760MW capacity have been awarded preferred bidder status in REIPPPP BW 7. The projects are located in Mpumalanga, Free State, North West and Limpopo provinces.
Infinity Power (part of Masdar) dominates by winning six of the eight projects totalling 1280MW with local IPP, Pele Green Energy.
The lowest tariff bid was R0.42 per kW/h (for a project in Mpumalanga) and the highest bid was R0.49 per kW/h. The average bid tariff is R0.46 per kW/h.
No wind projects
No wind projects were announced. South Africa’s Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, explained that the bid tariffs received for wind projects were too high and there is room for further negotiation. He added that the consumer must be protected in energy procurement in this regard. The minister also made the point that a lack of grid capacity was limiting new generation procurement.
The CEO of the IPP Office, Mr Bernard Magoro, explained that negotiations with wind project bidders is ongoing and an announcement will be made when the process is concluded. He added that a request has been made for re-allocation of capacity to allow more solar projects to be considered in BW 7. An announcement on this request will be made by the Minister in due course.
The Department is further considering the appointment of additional compliant bidders in both Onshore Wind and Solar PV that are eligible for appointment as Preferred Bidders, subject to value for money negotiations and the re-allocation of MW under this bid window from Onshore Wind Technology to Solar PV Technology, as provided for in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Further announcements will follow in this regard,” The Ministry of Electricity and Energy said in a statement.
Total investments from the eight (8) Solar PV Preferred Bidders in this bid window is R31.4 billion. South African Equity Participation of 49% across all the Preferred Bidders and average Black Economic Empowerment participation of 46% have been committed in this Bid Window.
The eight (8) Solar PV Preferred Bidders have committed to creating a total of 6 971 job opportunities for South African citizens (measured in job years) during both the construction and operational phases of the contracts. These projects will allocate 38.8% of their Total Project Costs to Local Content, equating to R7.8 billion during construction and R2.4 billion during the operation and maintenance phases.
The Preferred Bidders have also undertaken to invest R3 billion on Black Enterprise Procurement, R2 billion in B-BBEE Procurement on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) and Exempt Micro Enterprises (EMEs), and an additional R333 million in B-BBEE Procurement specifically for Black Women.
Furthermore, the Preferred Bidders have undertaken to spend a total of R73 million in Enterprise Development, R129 million in Socio-Economic Development, and R138 million in Skills Development initiatives over the lifetime of the projects.
The list of preferred bidder in REIPPPP BW 7:
Source: The Ministry of Electricity and Energy
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
