Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe. (Photo by Felix Dlangamandla/Daily Maverick/Gallo Images via Getty Images)
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has unveiled 25 new preferred bidders in the fifth bid window of South Africa’s renewable energy Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
Speaking on Thursday evening, Mantashe said his department planned to procure at least 2 600 megawatts (MW), including 1 600 MW from wind and 1 000MW from solar photovoltaic plants.
The 25 preferred bidder projects will provide 2 583MW. The average price per megawatt hour (MWh) for both solar and wind is R473, while the average price for solar alone is R429/MWh and R495 for wind.
“The 25 preferred bidder projects will inject a total private sector investment amount of about R50-billion into the economy, and will create a total of 13 900 job opportunities,” said Mantashe.
“A total of 34.7% shareholding by black people in IPPs was achieved against a target of at least 30%. For the first time, we introduced a target of 5% ownership by black women in the project, and it is very encouraging that we have already achieved a 7% commitment through this bidding round.”
The projects are expected to be added to the grid within the next 36 months. Bid window six will be announced at the end of January next year, for at least 1 600 MW of wind and 1 000 MW of solar energy in accordance with South Africa’s the Integrated Resource Plan 2019.