French energy giant TotalEnergies has started construction on a solar-plus-storage project in South Africa, with a power generation capacity of 216MW and a battery output of 75MW/500MWh.
The project, in the country’s Northern Cape province, is owned by three companies: TotalEnergies and Hydra Storage Holding, both of which hold a 35% stake in the project, and Reatile Renewables, which owns the remaining 30%. The developers have signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with South African national utility Eskom to acquire power generated at the project, and TotalEnergies and its partners expect to commission the facility in 2025.
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While none of the companies involved announced technological specifications for the project, its leaders expressed optimism about the benefits of the combination of solar and storage functions at the project.
“Together with our partners, we are pleased to launch this major solar power generation and storage project in South Africa,” said TotalEnergies senior vice president of renewables Vincent Stoquart. “Thanks to its innovative hybrid design, it will enable us to supply continuous green electricity over a longer period and beyond the hours of sunshine.”
“This project will not only contribute to the country’s energy transition, but also to strengthening the resilience of its power system.”
Both of TotalEnergies’ partners are based in South Africa, with former shareholders of renewables developer Mulilo owning Hydra Storage Holding, and Reatile a beneficiary of the South African government’s Broad-Based Black Economic Empowering programme, which aims to encourage more black-owned businesses to apply for and receive government contracts.
The news is a positive development for both the solar and storage sectors in South Africa, and follows a number of developments in the industry. Last week, the South African government opened applications for its seventh Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme, which is aiming to attract 1.8GW of new solar power projects from independent power producers.
Just days earlier, Scatec started work at a 1.1GWh battery storage system in the Northern Cape, and developments such as these will be integral if South Africa is to eliminate its reliance on coal-fired power plants.