Name of the Project
Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – Bid Window (BW) 6.

Location
South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE).

Project Description
The DMRE invited interested parties on April 6, 2022, to register prospective bids under REIPPPP – BW 6.

No indication has been given as to how much renewables capacity has been allocated to the bid, but it is expected that at least 1 600 MW of onshore wind and 1 000 MW of solar photovoltaic will be procured in line with the yearly allocations outlined in the Integrated Resource Plan and catered for by a subsequent Ministerial determination.

The deadline for bid submissions is August 11, 2022.

Before accessing the request for proposal, every prospective bidder is required to pay a nonrefundable documentation fee of R25 000 per prospective project and complete an electronic registration form online at www.ipp-renewables.co.za.

The DMRE will communicate only with prospective bidders that have completed the registration form and have paid the required fee.

Potential Job Creation
Not stated.

Capital Expenditure
Not stated.

Planned Start/End Date
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The Eskom Grid Access Unit has reported that it has received payments for 179 cost-estimate letters, or CELs, and has issued 53 such letters, following the April 6 issuance of a request for proposals (RFP) for BW6 of the REIPPPP.

IPP Office unit head Azwimbavhi Mamanyuha has reported that 219 grid-access applications have been received by Eskom with regard to BW6.

Mamanyuha has said that, provided that the required information is submitted timeously and the submission is for areas where Eskom still has grid capacity, the Grid Access Unit can now provide CELs in 90 days and budget quotes within 120 days.

Meanwhile,  IPP Office head Bernard Magoro has said that the local-content thresholds included in the RFP have presented potential risks and that the IPP Office is engaging with various stakeholders on the matter, including the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition “to ensure a balance is reached between competing interests, whilst also ensuring that we continue to kickstart local manufacturing capacity across the supply chain.

“In this respect, we are hoping to provide clarity if there's any exemption that will be granted before 21 July so that bidders still have enough opportunity to finalise their bids.”

Global supply-chain disruptions also pose a major risk factor for potential bidders, some of which have come to the fore during REIPPPP BW5.

In addition, Magoro has advised bidders to be aware of Eskom’s grid constraints and has urged potential BW6 bidders to use the information provided in Eskom’s Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) for the period to 2024, which was not available to BW5 bidders.

The GCCA points to a dearth of grid capacity in the renewable-resources-rich Cape provinces, but points to capacity still being available in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State, North West and Limpopo.

The IPP Office has also outlined changes included in the BW6 RFP relative to previous bidding documents, including:

• an increase in the maximum size for wind and solar PV projects to 240 MW, from the previous maximum of 140 MW for wind and 75 MW for solar PV, and a minimum project size of 50 MW for both technologies;
• the inclusion of ancillary service requirements as technical and commercial component of projects;
• a specific clause in the RFP to address so-called “concentration risks”, which were raised as a concern after BW5, during which a handful of IPPs secured the lion’s share of the allocation;
• tweaks to the financial qualification criteria to facilitate easier evaluation, including the provision of an independent financial model audit opinion; and
• allowing for economic development, for which there were already minimum bid-compliance thresholds, to be scored competitively as part of the comparative evaluation, where 90 points are available for price and 10 points for economic development.

The IPP Office aims to announce BW6 preferred bidders two months after the August 11 bid submission date and for those projects to reach financial close six months thereafter.

Projects proceeding under the round would then need to enter into commercial operation within 24 months of financial close.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
DMRE project officer, email query@ipp-renewables.co.za.