- South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy hosted a bidders’ conference in respect of Battery Energy Storage Bid Window 3 under the Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) yesterday.
- They announced a deadline submission extension by two months from 31 July 2024 to 31 October 2024 and adjusted bid window milestone timeline which was requested from prospective bidders.
- They cited delays at Eskom where bidders have experienced delays in securing grid-access cost estimate letters (CEL’s) that are required for bid qualification which has also cause a submission deadline extension in BESIPPPP Bid Window 2.
The department launched a third Request for Proposal (RFP) under the Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP), calling for the procurement of 616 MW of new generation capacity from battery energy storage technologies for five storage facilities that are located within the Free State province on 28 March 2024.
The last date for Bidders to apply to Eskom for a Procurement Programme specific CEL has been extended to 30 May 2024 (previously 30 April). Link to the new timetable issued by the DMRE HERE
Last month the Department also approved an extension of the bid submission date for BESIPPPP BW 2 from 30 April 2024 to 6th June 2024. This was approved, taking into consideration the timelines indicated by Eskom for the processing of CEL applications, as well as requests from Bidders to allow more time for the preparation of their Bid Responses. Potential Bidders were informed of the new timelines in a Briefing Note that was communicated on 28th March 2024.
A CEL is issued by Eskom to the applicant (project developer/IPP) with a non-binding estimation of the costs of the works to connect the facility to the national grid. It also secures provisional feed in capacity allocation for the applicant.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
