According to the investor, these are Africa's largest renewable energy projects financed through a private law renewable energy PPA to date. Most renewable energy projects in South Africa to date receive a government-subsidized tariff awarded through competitive bidding processes.
The switch from coal to solar power for energy-intensive mining of mineral sands is groundbreaking. In the long term, solar power from the two 100-megawatt projects will reduce the miner's global CO2 emissions by about 13 percent compared to 2019 levels. Construction is about to begin and Sola plans to bring the projects online in 2023.
South African partner Sola
"These project sales are our first major success in South Africa," said Robert Wagener, Abo Wind division manager responsible for the country. "We are particularly pleased because these are the first projects with which we have started our development activities in South Africa." The purchase agreements had already been concluded in 2021. Now that the development of the projects has reached certain milestones, the contracts have become binding.
"The cooperation with Abo Wind brings us closer to our goal of advancing clean energy in Africa. We are proud that the projects are now fully South African owned and financed, built, operated and managed here in the country," said Chris Haw, co-founder and executive director of Sola Group.
Sola Group is a vertically integrated independent power producer and leader in providing clean energy solutions to private companies in Africa. Sola's mission is to transform Africa through clean energy.
South Africa aims rapid expansion of renewables
The completion of the sale provides a tailwind for the activities of Abo Wind's 16-member Cape Town-based team. The company has been active in South Africa since 2018 and is currently working on wind and solar projects with a total capacity of four gigawatts. The country leads the African continent with 2.1 gigawatts of installed solar and 2.9 gigawatts of wind power capacity. In 2021, 515 megawatts of wind power capacity were added, despite the constraints of the pandemic that hit the country particularly hard.
See and watch our CEO Talk: ABO Wind: Patrik Fischer on storage and hybrid power plants
The government is aiming for further rapid expansion of renewables. Significant growth is also on the horizon for photovoltaics. To address the energy crisis, President Ramaphosa recently doubled the volume of the upcoming round of wind energy tenders to 3.2 gigawatts; an additional 1,000 megawatts will be tendered for photovoltaic projects. Abo Wind is preparing to participate in several projects in the upcoming tenders. (hcn)
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