- Mainstream Renewable Power (“Mainstream”) has reached commercial operation on a 97.5 MW Damlaagte solar PV farm located near Parys in the Free State.
- The power will be wheeled via the national grid to Sasol and Air Liquide’s operations in Secunda, located in Mpumalanga province.
- The 20 year PPAs are part of Sasol and Air Liquide’s joint drive to decarbonise their respective operations.
The Damlaagte facility is owned by Mainstream Renewable Power, uBuzwe Energy and Thembelihle Trust.
Mainstream controversy
Foreign independent power producer (IPP), Globeleq, and the Ikamva Consortium made up another foreign IPP, Mainstream Renewable Power plus local black economic empowerment partners, Africa Rainbow Energy & Power (AREP) and H1 Holdings, who make up more than 45 % of black ownership, allegedly owe the IPP Office in South Africa around R254.8 million.
The Ikamva Consortium were named by South Africa’s Department of Minerals, Resources and Energy (DMRE) as Preferred Bidder for twelve (12) of the twenty-five (25) projects, totalling 1274 MW capacity, in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Bid Window 5 (BW5). The projects were awarded preferred bidder status in October 2021.
All 12 projects failed to reach commercial close, and the consortium is currently refusing to pay bid bonds for the failed projects. The country’s IPP Office has confirmed that it has called the bid bonds (termination) of the 12 projects. Read more
According to clause 26.1 and 26.2 of the general requirements, rules and provisions (REIPPPP_BW5 RFP_PART A_GENERAL REQUIREMENTS, RULES AND PROVISIONS) the consortium is liable to pay the IPP Office a total of R254.8 million calculated at R200000.00 per megawatt (MW) as a preferred bidder.
The outcome of Bid Window 5 was racked with controversy and allegations of tender rigging emerged. 21 of the 25 preferred bidders announced had the same BBBEE partner in H1 Holdings – Mainstream Renewable Power (12 projects), Scatec (3 projects), EDF (3 projects) and local IPP Red Rocket (3 projects). The majority of the projects that won preferred bidder status were not shovel-ready and had outstanding development works activities including CEL, EIA and other permitting. Only 11 of the 25 projects reached commercial close which raised serious questions over the competency of the IPP Office under the leadership of Bernard Magoro, which at the time fell under the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, headed by Gwede Mantashe.
Some of the Ikamva Consortiums failed BW 5 projects have allegedly been re-submitted under different names by the MG consortium in REIPPPP Bid Window 7 but failed to achieve preferred bidder status. Read more
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
