As part of US State Secretary John Kerry's Climate and Clean Energy Investment Forum, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) has signed an agreement with US-based energy developer SolarReserve and independent project developer ACWA Power, recognising OPIC's $400-million commitment of debt financing to support the development of the Redstone concentrating solar power (CSP) project, in the Northern Cape.

The 100 MW Redstone CSP project would deliver consistent baseload electricity to the national grid under the Department of Energy’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

OPIC support to the Redstone project was also considered a significant milestone under US President Barack Obama's Power Africa initiative, which aimed to bring new power access to the more than 600-million sub-Saharan Africans currently living without energy access.

"The development of the Redstone project will benefit the South African people, the international clean energy sector and the role of US leadership in emerging market development,” commented OPIC president and CEO Elizabeth Littlefield.

“It's impressive that Redstone brings together the innovative US private sector leadership and technology of SolarReserve, the international experience of ACWA and the large-scale catalytic financing from OPIC. This sort of change-making partnership is at the heart of President Obama's Power Africa initiative and creates a broad, lasting impact in international development,” she said.

ACWA Power president and CEO Paddy Padmanathan added that the project – ACWA’s second in South Africa – would deliver dispatchable power at the most competitive tariff offered for CSP technology.

“Quite apart from the socioeconomic contribution this project will make to South Africa, the first-time deployment of CSP tower technology in the country using a
project finance framework, which was made possible by the galvanising leadership of OPIC financing, will enable this very important clean energy technology to be deployed at scale and at a faster pace than otherwise would have been possible,” he noted.

According to US Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard, it remained a priority for South Africa and its regional neighbours to diversify their power production beyond traditional energy sources, include a greater share of renewables, promote efficiency improvements and improve energy storage capabilities.

“The US stands by South Africa as a partner and, working together with agencies such as OPIC and companies such as SolarReserve, we can increase sustainable access to electricity – a foundation linked to overall lasting economic growth,” he remarked.