Watch there video: Minister Ramokgopa announces preferred bidders for the 3rd bid window of the BESIPPPP
- Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, has announced the selection of 2 Preferred Bidders representing five projects under the country’s Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) Bid Window 3.
Mulilo Energy has been named as Preferred Bidder for 4 of the 5 projects in Round 3 of South Africa’s Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP). This represents a total of 493MW / 1,972MWh of battery energy storage capacity. The fifth BESIPPPP project was awarded to Scatec.
The 4 Mulilo projects are all located in the Free State, South Africa and include:
- Erfdeel BESS – 123 MW / 492 MWh
- Retreat BESS – 123 MW / 492 MWh
- Bloemhoek BESS – 124 MW / 496 MWh
- Vanilla BESS – 123MW / 492MWh
Scatec has been awarded preferred bidder status for the Haru BESS Battery Energy Storage Project also located in the Free State province totalling 123 MW/492 MWh.
The procurement is based on a 15-year agreement with the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) which will utilise the capacity to balance the grid. According to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, commercial close is expected to be concluded by the end of Q1 2026 and commercial operation in January 2028.
The announcement aligns with the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP 2019) and relevant Ministerial Determinations that govern procurement under the Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (IPPPP).
In 2020, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy established a target to procure 28GW of new generation capacity through the IPPPP. To date, eight bid windows have been released, including the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP), Renewable Energy IPP Procurement (REIPPPP) Bid Windows 5, 6, and 7, Battery Energy Storage IPP Procurement (BESIPPPP) Bid Windows 1, 2, and 3, and the Gas to Power Independent Power Procurement Programme (GASIPPPP) Bid Window 1.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
