Name and Location
Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) – second window, 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:
• Solar Capita 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)
• Boshoo 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), Eastern Cape (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 include Stortemelk Hydro (4.3 MW) and Neusberg hydroelectric project A (10 MW) for a combined 14.3 MW of capacity.

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

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

Duration
Financial close for the 19 second-round preferred bidders, initially set for December 2012, is now expected to take place in the fourth week of April 2013.

Latest Developments
The DoE has confirmed that the financial-close deadline for the 19 second-bid-window projects identified under the REIPPPP has been delayed to the fourth week of April, from the initial deadline of the end March, while the release date for the request for proposals (RFP) for the third bid window has been shifted to the end of this month.

The rescheduling of the financial-close deadline is to accommodate the securing of government approvals that are required before the contracts can be signed.

The deferral will enable the department to finalise all the contracts, including the power purchase agreements, direct agreements and implementation agreements for projects representing 1 043.9 MW of capacity and an investment value of about R28-billion.

The DoE is simultaneously moving ahead with processes to secure internal approvals for the third-bid-window RFP, which will reportedly incorporate the improvements that have already been outlined in various briefing notes released during the first two bid windows. Adjustments will also be made to the economic development obligations faced by bidders.

It is not yet clear how much capacity will be set aside after procurement during the third bidding round, with 1 165 MW remaining for allocation from the initial determination, which opens the way for the procurement of 3 725 MW of renewables projects by 2016.

However, a further determination was released by Energy Minister Dipuo Peters in December, which caters for additional REIPPPP procurements of 3 200 MW by 2020.

The allocation for various technologies is also still being finalised, but the third round will probably be dominated by onshore wind projects, followed by solar PV projects. Although the department has indicated that it is also “mindful of the need to allocate additional megawatts for concentrate solar power in the third window”.

Also under review is the schedule for the subsequent bid, with repeated to ensure that government can procure at least 1 000 MW of renewable energy a year.

“The department intends to align all bid submission dates for the subsequent windows to August of each year. The announcement for the preferred bidders should be in November every year subject to the availability of the megawatts. Therefore, projects are expected to close within six months from the announcement date,” says DOE spokesperson Thandiwe Maimane.

However, the actual timeframe for the different windows will be released with the RFP to allow bidders to plan for the subsequent windows.

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.
Windlab Developments South Africa, tel +27 21 701 1292 or +27 87 802 5999; or fax (within South Africa) 0800 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.