South Africa: Steel Giant ArcelorMittal Issues Solar PV RFI Totalling 160MW

• Steel Giant ArcelorMittal is inviting independent power producers (IPPs) to participate in a request for information (RFI) process for the supply and management of several photovoltaic (PV) power plants at its South Africa operations.
• The company has six operational sites: Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Vereeniging, Pretoria, Thabazimbi and Saldanha, now in care and maintenance.
• The land for the power plants will be made available by ArcelorMittal South Africa to the successful IPP/IPPs.

“ArcelorMittal South Africa is committed to combatting global warming and climate change through the introduction of clean technologies at our operations and we intend to introduce renewable power into our energy mix in line with global best practices,” says Kobus Verster, Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal South Africa.

Further, the company has repeatedly stated that continued, unaffordable increases on regulated costs, including energy tariffs, are having a seriously negative impact on its financial performance.

To substantially reduce the blended price of electricity, improve its control of input costs and ensure a stable and secure supply of electricity for its operations, ArcelorMittal South Africa intends to enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) with an IPP to build, own and operate the planned PV power plants.

The power plants at the Vanderbijlpark operations will have supply capacities of 10MW and 100MW while the other sites will each have 10MW plants. The land for the power plants will be made available by ArcelorMittal South Africa to the successful IPP/IPPs.

As part of the PV power plant project, the successful IPP/IPPs will be responsible for:

• Conducting all pre-feasibility and bankable feasibility studies to confirm financial and technical viability
• Conducting the environmental impact assessment and other surveys required for the implementation of the project
• Applying for all governmental and legal permits and licences required for implementation of the PV power plants
• Sourcing the required finance for the development and implementation of the project
• Conducting all engineering, procurement and construction work.

Interested IPPs are invited to express their interest in writing on a company letterhead, indicating the power plant capacity they are interested in (100MW, 10MW or both).

Supporting documents which should accompany the expression of interest include the completed questionnaire, company profile, financial results, BBBEE certification and company registration.

ArcelorMittal South Africa will select the most suitable candidates who will receive a request for quotation (RFQ) together with the detailed technical scope of work.

A copy of the RFI and the questionnaire can be obtained by sending an email to jerry.dungu@arcelormittal.com.

Author: Bryan Groenendaal

Source: ArcelorMittal South Africa