South Africa has awarded 1,760 megawatts of green-power projects as part of efforts to decrease its dependence on coal for electricity generation.
This was revealed in a statement by the country’s the Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, in a meeting with reporters in Pretoria on Monday.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the government received over 30 bids for the project but only eight were successful.
Ramokgopa noted that the bids have to be limited given the constrained grid capacity in the country.
He said that the transmission grid’s constraints prevented the government from meeting its full target.
“The grid is becoming a binding constraint — it’s going to undermine the ability of the country to benefit from these renewable-energy resources,”he said.
The green-power projects are located in Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Free State, and North West provinces.
Meanwhile, the Western, Northern, and Eastern Cape were excluded due to “exhausted” grid capacity, Ramokgopa added.
South Africa’s plan on green energy transition
South Africa’s efforts to transition to cleaner energy are part of a broader plan to address the country’s energy challenges.
So far, the country has committed to a 1.5 trillion rand ($82 billion) plan over five years to develop renewable energy, green hydrogen, and electric vehicle industries.
This plan is supported by $9.3 billion in climate finance from wealthy nations through the Just Energy Transition Partnership.
“This support is critical as we strive for a more sustainable future,” Ramokgopa said.
The government is also working on a 390 billion-rand plan to expand its transmission network to connect more power plants.
On December 11, South Africa called for private investors to submit information on developing the grid to facilitate the transition to clean energy.
“We expect to issue requests for proposals by the end of 2025,” Ramokgopa added.
Infinity Power Holding SA leads six of the projects in the seventh bid window of South Africa’s renewables plan, while Mulilo Renewable Project Developments and Scatec Solar Africa will handle one each.
The projects range in size from 150 megawatts to 240 megawatts. Meanwhile, the country appointed eight preferred bidders for 615 megawatts of battery-storage projects at Eskom sites across several provinces.
These projects will each be around 77 megawatts in size.
