SunEdison to develop 371 MW of solar power through 5 projects in South Africa

Subscribe to our newsletter and get the latest news and business opportunities in your inbox
SunEdison to develop 371 MW of solar power through 5 projects in South Africa

The South African Department of Energy has awarded SunEdison, Inc., a solar energy developer, an additional 5 solar photovoltaic projects totaling 371 MW.

The award stems from the extended capacity announcement for the fourth bid round of the South African government's Renewable Energy IPP Procurement (REIPPP) Program.

The five solar power plants will be located in the Northern Cape and North West Provinces and are expected to produce enough energy to power the equivalent of more than 200,000 South African homes.

Eskom, the South African national utility, will purchase the solar energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA).

Once construction is complete, operation and maintenance of the power plants will be carried out by SunEdison Services, a subsidiary which provides global 24/7 asset management, monitoring and reporting services.

SunEdison Asia Pacific president, Pashupathy Gopalan, has stated:

"Over the past 3 years, SunEdison has had a successful track record delivering highly reliable, affordable solar power to South Africa."

"We selected project sites that strengthen the Eskom grid and distribute project benefits across a range of communities."

"Building on SunEdison's previous commitment to employment and social programs in our host communities, the five projects awarded will offer local enterprise development and procurement programs."

As we reported in May, SunEdison has previously been awarded an 86 MW photovoltaic project in the fourth round of South Africa's REIPPP program. This brings the total capacity to 457 MW across six solar power projects.

SunEdison entered the South African market in 2011 and has developed, constructed and now operates 130 MW of utility scale solar power plants. With the 457 MW awarded in the fourth bid round of the REIPPP program, the company will become one of the leading solar energy providers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Share this news

Join us

In order to get full access to News section, you must have a full subscription. You can check all the benefits of becoming a member and purchase a subscription on our membership page.