Name and Location
Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – second window, nationwide, South Africa.

Client
Department of Energy (DoE).

Project Description
The DoE has announced 19 companies as the preferred bidders for the second window of the REIPPPP, which closed on March 5, 2012. The 19 projects represent 1 043.9 MW of capacity.

The preferred bidders include nine solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, seven onshore wind projects, two small hydropower projects and one concentrated solar power (CSP) project.

The solar PV projects named are:
• De Aar 3 (75 MW)
• Sishen solar facility (74 MW)
• Aurora (9 MW)
• Vredendal (8.8 MW)
• Linde (36.8 MW)
• Dreunberg (69.6 MW)
• Jasper Power Company (75 MW)
• Boshoff solar park (60 MW)
• Upington solar PV (8.9 MW)

The combined capacity of the solar PV projects that progressed to the preferred-bidder stage was 417.1 MW.

The wind projects listed include:
• Gouda wind facility (135.2 MW)
• Amakhala Emoyeni, Phase 1 (137.9 MW)
• Tsitsikamma Community wind farm (94.8 MW)
• West Coast 1 (90.8 MW)
• Waainek (23.4 MW)
• Grassridge (59.8 MW)
• Chaba (20.6 MW)

The wind projects collectively represent 562.5 MW of capacity.

The preferred small hydropower bidders are Stortemelk Hydro project (4.3 MW) and Neusberg hydroelectric project A (10 MW) for a combined 14.3 MW of capacity.

The one CSP project named is the 50 MW Bokpoort CSP project.

Value
The second-round projects are collectively valued at nearly R28-billion.

Duration
The signing by the DoE and Eskom of the second tranche of power purchase agreements (PPAs) was concluded in May this year.

Latest Developments
The solar PV projects:
Solar Capital’s 75 MW De Aar 3 solar project started supplying power to Eskom’s power grid in the De Aar municipality on December 3, 2013.

Acciona Energy South Africa and Aveng Africa’s R1.8-billion Sishen solar PV power project, in the Northern Cape, is expected to come on line this year. Shipment of the solar modules for the facility, which are being supplied by JinkoSolar, started in November 2013 and will continue until September 2014. As at December 2013 the project was about 12% complete. The project is expected to be completed by December this year.

Scatec Solar signed the final agreements with South Africa’s DoE in May for two solar PV projects that will be located at Linde, in the Northern Cape, and Dreunberg, in the Eastern Cape.

SolarReserve, the Kensani Group and Intikon Energy’s Jasper solar PV project, in the Northern Cape, will be one of the largest solar installations on the continent once completed.
SunEdison’s 60 MW Boshoff solar park will be developed in the Free State and is scheduled to begin generating electricity in the fourth quarter of 2014.

The wind projects:
Acciona Energy and Aveng’s Gouda wind park, in the Western Cape, was about 12% complete as at December 2013. The project is expected to be completed by May 2015.

Cennergi reached financial close on the Amakhala Emoyeni wind farm project, in the Eastern Cape, in June. The wind farm will comprise 56 Nordex turbines. Construction will start early in 2014, with the project expected to be operational in September 2016.

Cennergi’s Tsitsikamma Community wind farm, in the Eastern Cape, will comprise 31 V112-3.0 MW Vesta wind turbines. Construction will start early in 2014, with the project expected to be operational in September 2016.

The West Coast 1 wind farm project, located 130 km north of Cape Town, will consist of 47 wind turbines and is expected to reach commercial operation in June 2015. GDF Suez holds a 43% equity stake in the project, while Investec holds 34.5% and broad-based black economic-empowerment shareholder Kagiso Tiso, 20%. The remaining 2.5% will be allocated to a community trust. Investec will act as investor and lender. In addition to investing equity in the project, Investec, jointly with Nedbank, have underwritten about R1.5-billion of debt required for the development of the wind farm.
Construction on the Grassridge wind farm, in the Eastern Cape, officially started in October 2013. The 20 Vestas turbines, which will include the towers, nacelles, hubs and blades, will be erected between July and November 2014. The farm is expected o start producing electricity in 2015.

InnoWind is developing the Chaba wind energy project. The delivery of the seven Vestas wind turbines for the wind plant is planned to start in mid-2014 with commissioning expected to start in the third quarter of 2014.

The hydro projects:
Mulilo Renewable Energy’s 10 MW Neusberg project is a run-of-river small hydropower project under construction on the Orange river, near Kakamas, in the Northern Cape. Entura officially started construction on the project in October 2013. Entura’s scope of work encompasses the whole life cycle of the project, from design, through construction, to ongoing support for the operation, and maintenance after completion in January 2015.
Meanwhile, construction on Nuplanet’s Stortemelk Hydro project, in the Free State, was expected to start in October last year after a PPA was signed with Eskom in May.

CSP projects:
ACWA Power’s Bokpoort CSP will be developed on a build, own and operate basis, with a total power generating capacity of 50 MWe net power output. Mott MacDonald has been appointed lenders’ technical adviser for the project by Investec Bank and Absa Bank. This includes monitoring the 28-month construction and commissioning phase through periodic site visits. The CSP plant is expected to be commercially operational by the end of 2015.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Suzlon Energy (wind turbines) and Vestas (wind turbines).

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
Cennergi CEO Thomas Garner, tel +27 12 675 6669 or email Thomas.Garner@cennergi.com; or communications tel +27 12 675 6655 or email comms@cennergi.com.
Windlab Developments South Africa, tel +27 21 701 1292 or +27 87 802 5999; or fax (within South Africa) +27 800 981 222.
Suzlon Energy investor relations Dhaval Vakil, tel +91 22 6639 3252 or email dhaval.vakil@suzlon.com.
Vestas, tel +45 97 30 00 00.
EDF Energies Nouvelles, tel +33 1 40 90 23 00 or fax +33 1 40 90 23 66.
Mulilo Renewable Energy, tel +27 21 934 5268 or email info@mulilo.com.
Entura, tel +61 3 6245 4500 or email info@entura.com.au.
NuPlanet project development Anton-Louis Olivier, tel +27 12 349 2944, fax +27 12 349 2944 or email al@nuplanet.co.za.
Aurecon, tel +27 12 427 2000, fax +27 86 556 0521 or email tshwane@aurecongroup.com.
Eigenbau, tel +27 11 244 8700, fax +27 11 465 2080 or email eigenbau@mweb.co.za.
Andrtiz investor relations Petra Wolf, tel +43 316 6902 2722.
TMC operations and maintenance, tel +27 12 349 2944 or fax +27 12 349 2944.
ACWA, tel +966 1 283 5555 or fax +966 1 283 5500.
InnoWind, tel +27 41 487 2418 or fax +27 41 484 3038.
GDF Suez Energy Southern Africa head of business development Sanjith Mungroo, tel +27 11 209 9225 or email Sanjith.Mungroo@gdfsuez.com.
Acciona Energy, tel +34 91 663 28 50 or fax +34 91 663 28 51.
Aveng, tel +27 11 779 2800.
SunEdison, tel +1 866 786 3347 or fax +1 443 909 7150.
SolarReserve, Andi Plocek, tel +1 310 315 2233 or email Andi.Plocek@SolarReserve.com.
Iberdrola director of external communication Jesús García López, tel +34 91 784 23 58.
Kensani Group, Coenraad Krige, tel +27 21 674 0304, fax +27 21 683 0577 or email Coenraad@kensanicapital.co.za.
Intikon Energy, Stephen Donnelly, email Stephen.donnelly@intikon.com.
Scatec Solar South Africa project development Jed Borrill, tel +27 11 784 2777 or email jed.borrill@scatecsolar.com.
Solar Capital, tel +27 21 430 0796, fax +27 21 430 0795/+27 86 538 8365 or email paschal@solarcapital.com.