- Eight preferred bidders have been announced in South Africa’s Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) BW2 which seeks to procure 615 MW/2 460 MWh across eight substations sites in the Northwest province
- A total of 31 bids were announced in August.
The site-specific BESIPPPP Bid Window 2 is designed to facilitate the procurement of up to 615 Megawatts (MW) from facilities that will provide Capacity, Energy and Ancillary Services to Eskom at eight (8) specified sites, therefore only one Preferred Bidder is appointed per site.
The Department received 31 Bid Responses on the 29th of August 2024. Following the independent evaluation conducted from September to November 2024, the following 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders, with a total investment of R12.8 billion, have been appointed under this Bid Window:
The list of preferred bidders in BESIPPPP BW2:
Source: The Ministry of Electricity and Energy
“BESIPPPP BW2 round was found to be highly competitive, with a marked increase in the number of bids relative to Battery Energy Storage BW 1, resulting in a 35% decrease in the average evaluation price, compared to Bid Window 1 prices,” the Ministry of Electricity and Energy said in a statement.
“The 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders have committed to 41% black shareholding in the IPP Project Companies, up to 27% shareholding by construction contractors and up to 36% in operations contractors. The Preferred Bidders have committed to creating a total of 1 570 job opportunities for RSA citizens (measured in job years), during construction and operations. These projects will allocate 31% of their Total Project Costs to Local Content, equating to R2.6 billion during construction and R2.5 billion during the operation and maintenance phases,” the ministry added.
The Preferred Bidders have also undertaken to invest R1.8 billion on Black Enterprise Procurement, R1.4 billion in B-BBEE Procurement on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) and Exempt Micro Enterprises (EMEs), and an additional R 659 million in B-BBEE Procurement specifically for Black Women.
The Preferred Bidders have also committed to spend R 316 million on Supplier Development, Skills Development, Bursaries for Black Students, Skills Development for Black disabled people, and Socio-Economic Development initiatives over the life-time of the projects.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
