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DPA Southern Africa has broken ground on the Bloemfontein solar PV plant in Free State, which will supply power to Africa Data Centre sites in Cape Town and Johannesburg.

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is seeking proposals for 616MW/246MWh of battery energy storage systems at five Eskom substation in Free State province.

Political uncertainty grips South Africa ahead of national and provincial elections on 29 May, with opinion polls suggesting the ruling African National Congress could lose its parliamentary majority for the first time in 30 years, raising the possibility of a coalition government and the prospect of a surge in ‘pork barrel’ politics.

South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has appointed Globeleq’s Red Sands project as the fifth preferred bidder under its battery energy storage independent power producer procurement programme (BESIPPP) first bid window.  The project will be the largest standalone battery energy storage system in Africa and ends the initial phase of the BESIPPP programme.

A new guarantee facility provided by PIDG’s GuarantCo arm could help to increase the number of creditworthy, long-term offtakers able to sign power purchase agreements.

London AIM-listed Chariot is carrying out a strategic review of its Transitional Power division, which could lead to the sale of its stakes in four renewable energy projects, as well as its shareholding in South African electricity trader Etana Energy.

Climate Fund Managers has provided capital for waste-to-energy developer Bio2Watt Energy Holdings’ biogas projects in South Africa, including expansion of the 4.8MW Bronkhorstspruit plant.

Having reached financial close on its three Koruson II projects, Anglo American/EDF JV Envusa Energy expects to start construction in H1 2024, to install combined wind and solar capacity of 520MW in South Africa’s Northern Cape.

France’s TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy have signed a farm-in agreement to take majority control between them of Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa. Existing partners say the block is on trend with major Orange Basin discoveries including Venus and Graff offshore Namibia.

Mining companies are planning to cut thousands of jobs in response to negative domestic and international factors, which could cause wider economic problems and difficulties for the government in the run-up to the late May general election. Critical minerals offer huge potential, but structural constraints weigh heavy on investors.

Hive Hydrogen has signed an agreement with Cape Town-based Genesis Eco-Energy Developments to secure 372MW of wind electricity for its multi-billion dollar Coega green ammonia plant in Nelson Mandela Bay.  

CFM’s appointment to manage the Southern African Power Pool ’s $1.3bn Regional Transmission Infrastructure Financing Facility could free up a decades-long blockage in the development of cross-border transmission infrastructure. How quickly this happens depends on the success of fundraising efforts in the coming months, and the willingness of utilities and finance ministries to make the RTIFF scheme work.

Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide have signed a third power purchase agreement (PPA) with Enel Green Power RSA for wind power supply to their site in Mpumalanga province.

Johannesburg-based data company Teraco plans to build a solar PV plant in Free State province, after being allocated grid capacity by state utility Eskom. Electricity generated from the plant will be wheeled across Eskom and municipal power networks to Teraco’s operations throughout South Africa.

In a development that could destabilise Namibia’s electricity export initiative, industry sources have told African Energy the authorities have drastically downsized the amount of power allowed for export from 750MW to 100MW, making export-oriented independent power producers’ plants economically unviable.