SunEd, Mainstream win 621MW in expanded South Africa round

South Africa has nearly doubled the size of its fourth renewables procurement round, with SunEdison and Mainstream Renewable Power adding a combined 621MW of solar and wind capacity to the round.

In April South Africa announced the winners of 1.12GW of capacity in its fourth renewables procurement round – with Enel Green Power and BioTherm Energy chief among them – but the Energy Department suggested that further projects could be added to the tally.

On Monday, that happened in a big way. All told, another 1.08GW of capacity was added to the fourth round, according to a statement from the Energy Department.

SunEdison says five of its utility-scale solar projects totaling 371MW have been added to the list of winners, coming on top of the 86MW project it had already won in the round.

That makes SunEdison the biggest fourth-round winner, with its six projects totaling 457MW topping Enel Green Power’s 419MW performance. To date, US-based SunEdison has built 130MW of utility-scale PV in South Africa.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power – which had not previously won any capacity in the fourth round – got the green light for two wind projects totaling 250MW.

The announcement solidifies Mainstream’s position of leadership in the blossoming South African renewables market. To date, Mainstream has successfully bid eight utility-scale wind and PV projects into South Africa’s competitive procurement rounds, for a total of 848MW – more than any other developer in the market.

Mainstream’s two new wind projects – the 140MW Kangnas in Northern Cape, and the 110MW Perdekraal East in Western Cape – will require €420m ($467m) of investment.

Mainstream blasted into South Africa on the back of the country’s first major procurement round in 2011, successfully bidding in its Jeffreys Bay wind project and its De Aar and Droogfontein solar projects. All three – worth a combined 238MW – were commissioned in 2014. The 138MW Jeffreys Bay project uses Siemens 2.3MW turbines.

Two years later, as part of the third procurement round, Mainstream won preferred bidder status for another three wind projects totaling 360MW – Khobab, Loeriesfontein, and Noupoort, all in Northern Cape. The developer reached financial close for those projects in February.

“Renewable energy ticks three important boxes for South Africa’s energy needs,” says Barry Lynch, Mainstream’s managing director for onshore procurement, construction and operations.

“Firstly, the cost of these projects is now cheaper than new coal-fired generation. Secondly, they can be brought into commercial operation at the speed required and thirdly, they meet the scale needed to address the country’s growing electricity demand.”

SunEd, Mainstream win 621MW in expanded South Africa round