He said South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) is a competitive tender process that has been designed to facilitate private sector investment into grid-connected renewable energy generation.
As part of the programme, bidders in the various bid windows are also required to sign standardised 20-year Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with power utility, Eskom.
The PPAs are supported by IAs between the IPP and government through the Department of Energy, which, along with a Government Support Framework Agreement, effectively guarantees Eskom’s payments for the duration of the PPA, subject to IPP plant availability.
Radebe said that IPPs are expected to comply with provisions of the IA from construction stage and throughout the period of the PPA.
“Critical to the IA are the commitments to empower local businesses and communities. This area is critical for government as it will stimulate development of the local renewable energy industry.
“Government acknowledges that monitoring compliance with IA provisions needs urgent strengthening, as it has proven to be a challenge. Urgent work needs to be undertaken by our government to ensure compliance,” Radebe said.
In April, the energy department announced the signing of an additional 27 projects procured under the REIPPP’s bid windows 3.5 and 4.
These 27 projects are located in different provinces throughout the country and include technologies such as solar photovoltaic (PV), wind, concentrating solar power (CSP) and biomass, among others.
“The procurement of the 27 new projects was the biggest IPP procurement by the department, representing a total of R56bn of investment and about 2,300MW of generation capacity to be added to the grid over the next five years.”
Radebe said new foreign and local direct investment expected from these projects should provide a strong economic growth impetus in support of the economy.
“Furthermore, it is expected that this investment will certainly have a positive effect and contribute to the much needed jobs in the rural areas of our country where these projects are located,” he said.
SAnews.gov.za is a South African government news service, published by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). SAnews.gov.za (formerly BuaNews) was established to provide quick and easy access to articles and feature stories aimed at keeping the public informed about the implementation of government mandates.
Go to: http://www.sanews.gov.za
