SunEdison wins five solar power projects in South Africa

The South Africa’s Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded five additional solar photovoltaic projects to SunEdison with combined power output of 371MW.

The projects have been awarded as part of the Renewable Energy IPP Procurement (REIPPP) Programme under which the company previously won an 86 MW solar project.

Sun Edison said with the latest announcement, the company has secured six solar power projects in South Africa with total power generation capacity of 457MW in the fourth round of the REIPPP Programme.

The projects awarded during this round will be built in Northern Cape and North West provinces, which are expected to generate enough to meet power requirement of 200,000 homes.

South African electricity public utility Eskomis is expected to buy the solar energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement.

SunEdison Asia Pacific president Pashupathy Gopalan said: "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 programmes in our host communities, the five projects awarded will offer local enterprise development, skills development and procurement programmes."

Under the agreement, SunEdison Services will look after the operation and maintenance of the power plants, which will include asset management, monitoring and reporting services.

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Image: Sun Edison to supply 371MW photovoltaic modules in South Africa. Photo: courtesy of Naypong/Freedigitalphotos.