Electricity Minister unveils preferred bidders for solar and battery storage projects

In his last Energy Action Plan briefing for the year, Minister of Electricity and Energy Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa announced the eight preferred bidders for Bid Window 7 – all solar, with no wind projects – along with eight preferred bidders for the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

Reflecting on the achievements and challenges the energy sector has faced this year, Ramagpoka, who was speaking in Tshwane on 23 December 2024, remarked that this had been the longest uninterrupted power supply the country had experienced in five years.

Ramagpoka said that while the country had been free of load shedding for a large part of 2024, “we are not out of the woods yet”, and that the country should not be celebrating almost 300 days of no load shedding, but that this should be the norm.

The minister said work would continue to ensure the end of load shedding and in the long term, ensure “a sufficient head space for the South African economy to grow”.

Read more: Person of the Year: Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa impresses by being able to keep lights on

Part of this work includes the minister’s stance on accelerating renewable energy uptake in the country to reduce reliance on coal-fired power stations, through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

Ramakgopa announced the appointment of eight preferred bidders under Bid Window 7, with a combined contracted capacity of 1,760 MW, and another eight preferred bidders under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) Bid Window 2.

The two bid windows opened on 14 December 2023, with submissions received in August 2024. Over three months, independent bid evaluation committees reviewed the bids “under strict security at the IPP Office”.

The preferred bidders will now be engaged to provide all requirements in line with the request for proposal to achieve commercial close, about six months from the preferred bidder announcement. 

Ramagkopa said these appointments were an affirmation of the South African government’s intention to bring on different types of technologies to ensure the achievement of the SA’s Nationally Determined Contributions ambitions.

“Remember that we have made a promise to our people first, and also to the world that we do appreciate that 80% of generation capacity comes from fossil fuels. We’ve got a responsibility that we are able to address issues of air quality, which has got significant health implications for those people who are living within a particular radius of power station[s].

“We have that responsibility to the health of our people… We also have a responsibility to ensure that we reduce the CO2 emissions as part of the global agenda of addressing the scourge of climate change,” said the minister on Monday.

Read more: ‘Exponential renewables increase’ expected in SA’s revised energy blueprint

As the most industrialised economy on the continent, accounting for a third of its greenhouse gas emissions, and globally about 0.9% of the total emissions, Ramagkopa said that South Africa had that responsibility. 

“We owe it to our people. The bid windows in relation to solar help to articulate the kind of mix that we want to have. We’re not relenting on that front. So it’s important that we intensify that effort of ensuring that we have new generation capacity,” he said. 

This has been enabled going into the future, according to the minister, by the amendment of the principal piece of legislation, the Electricity Regulation Act. This will be operative from 1 January 2025 with Ramagkopa releasing the regulations to support the enactment of the legislation.

Bid window 7

Preferred bidders for Bid Window 7. (Image: Department of Energy)

Bid window 2 for battery storage

Preferred bidders for Bid Window 2. (Image: Department of Energy)