Northern Cape Business 2019/20 edition

OVERVIEW
Renewable energy
Technical innovation comes to the Northern Cape.
SECTOR INSIGHT
The tower at Khi Solar One is
one of South Africa’s tallest
structures.
The renewable energy revolution is speeding up. In recent
months, landmarks such as the start of commercial
operations by the 100MW Kathu Solar Park and the
reaching of financial closure of the 147MW Roggeveld
Wind Farm mark what can be described as the first phase of the
coming of renewable energy to South Africa.
In less than a decade, an entirely new sector has been created
through legislation that invited local and foreign investors to bid
for and then build renewable energy generation plants. South
Africa’s National Development Plan (NDP) requires 20 000MW of
renewable energy by 2030. That will be achieved mainly through
the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement
Programme (REIPPPP).
The wind and solar parks now spreading over the vast spaces
of the Northern Cape indicate that renewable energy has well
and truly arrived.
Projects such as Kathu Solar Park, a concentrating solar power
(CSP) project, and the Roggeveld Wind Farm are indicative of the
large scale of most of the energy generation that is being rolled
out, but at Black Rock Mine solar power is being put to use on
a smaller, but no less important scale. To light the intersections
leading to the mine, BEKA Schréder has installed solar-powered
street lights.
The 2018 signing ceremony by new Energy Minister Jeff Rabebe
restarted the REIPPPP when he signed off on projects totalling
R56-billion that will add 2 300MW to the national grid. There had
been a long delay in the process as national utility Eskom argued
against accepting more power
purchase agreements while they
had a surplus. Most of South
Africa’s electricity comes from
coal and Eskom is building two
huge coal-fired power stations.
When a group of dignitaries
gathered a month after that
important signing ceremony
to inaugurate a solar plant that
covers 300ha in the Northern
Cape, there was therefore a lot
of optimism in the air. National
government’s confirmation of its
commitment to the REIPPPP is
vital for growth. Approximately
60% of the projects so far
allocated have been in the
nation’s sunniest province.
Xina Solar One is located at
Pofadder on the N14 between
Upington and Springbok. The
R9.4-billion project is a joint
venture between Spanish
energy firm Abengoa Solar,
the Industrial Development
Corporation (IDC), the Public
Investment Corporation (PIC) and
a community trust representing
the local population. The plant is
Abengoa’s third in the Northern
Cape. Kaxu Solar One is also
near Pofadder but Khi Solar One
is closer to Upington. All three
use concentrated solar power
which reflects the sun’s rays
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