In a significant stride towards bolstering energy security, South Africa has unveiled the four preferred bidders for the inaugural bid window of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Procurement (BESIPPP) Programme.
Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, hailed the announcement of the preferred bidders as a noteworthy development in the country’s pursuit of energy autonomy.
The rigorous selection process, conducted independently between August and October this year, culminated in the identification of the preferred bidders who are poised to contribute to the country’s electricity generation capacity in alignment with the Integrated Resource Plan (2019).
The BESIPPPP Programme Bid Window 1 is tailored to facilitate the acquisition of up to 513 megawatts (MW) from facilities delivering Capacity, Energy and Ancillary Services to Eskom at specified sites, with one Preferred Bidder designated per site.
From a pool of at least 17 contenders, the chosen preferred bidders are Oasis Aggeneis, Mogobe BESS, Oasis Mookodi, and Oasis Nieuwehoop. Additionally, a fifth bidder is anticipated to be appointed, as hinted by the benchmarking exercise conducted by the department.
Despite economic development commitments not being mandatory for this BESIPPPP BW1 round, the preferred bidders have pledged to create 992 job opportunities for South African citizens during construction and operations. Moreover, they have committed to significant expenditure on local content, preferential procurement from black enterprises, and enterprise development initiatives over the duration of the projects.
In a parallel development, the Minister announced the signing of project agreements with an additional bidder under the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP). The 75MW project, set to be situated in De Aar, Northern Cape, will integrate a hybrid Solar PV and Battery Storage technology solution. Commercial close is expected by mid-December 2023, with construction commencing in early 2024 and new generation capacity coming online from early 2026.
Furthermore, the Minister highlighted the progress of other Independent Power Producer (IPP) programmes with secured generating capacity, emphasizing the strides made in securing new projects. Notably, with several bid windows open, the country has achieved securing at least 1384MW of new generating capacity at different stages of the process.
The announcement also shed light on the progress of projects under Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy IPP Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), with nine projects reaching commercial close and in construction. Additionally, developments in Bid Window 6 were outlined, with the appointed preferred bidders finalizing all conditions precedent to reaching legal and commercial close.
As the country continues to strive for additional generation capacity, the department is in the process of finalizing governance approvals for the procurement of additional generation capacity under Bid Window 7 of the REIPPPP, Gas-to-Power, and Battery Storage. Subsequent announcements regarding this matter are expected in the coming weeks.
