SolarAfrica's green light: Eskom approves Northern Cape solar farm budget quote

SolarAfrica, a renewable energy company, is set to commence the construction of its solar farm project in the Northern Cape following the allocation of an Eskom grid budget quote (BQ). This BQ is a key component of Eskom's strategy to integrate additional renewable energy megawatts from independent power producers into the grid, aiming to meet demand and enhance the national energy supply security.

SolarAfrica emphasises its commitment to meeting Eskom's stringent criteria after obtaining a BQ under the Energy Action Plan. A pivotal requirement is establishing a customer base committed to consuming wheeled energy through virtual power purchase agreements (VPPAs).

SolarAfrica proudly announces that prominent companies such as Vantage Data Centres, Attacq, and NCP Chlorchem have already enrolled in its VPPAs. The company invites businesses nationwide to participate in its wheeling project, creating opportunities for more enterprises to benefit from this renewable energy initiative.

Electricity wheeling enables the transmission of privately generated power through the national grid to customers who require it, operating on a willing buyer/willing seller framework.

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David McDonald, the CEO of SolarAfrica, said, “Securing this type of grid capacity for wheeled energy is a game-changer. Typically, most of the grid capacity is already allocated to mega institutions and large-scale, energy-intensive operations. With our suite of solutions and wheeling arrangements, we can provide power to a wider variety of commercial and industrial businesses to help them save substantially on their electricity bills while significantly improving their carbon footprint.”

Several entities, including the City of Cape Town, Discovery Group, and Vodacom, have initiated electricity-wheeling projects as Eskom struggles to maintain a consistent power supply in South Africa.

To address this challenge, the Energy Action Plan has been introduced with five key pillars: fixing Eskom and enhancing existing supply availability, promoting private investment in generation capacity, expediting the procurement of new generation capacity from renewables, gas, and battery storage, encouraging businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar, and fundamentally transforming the electricity sector for long-term energy security.

SolarAfrica plans to expand its wheeling project in the coming months by starting the construction of its first solar farm, SunCentral, in De Aar, Northern Cape. SunCentral will consist of three phases, providing up to 1GW in total. The initial phase will deliver around 300MW generated by over 560,000 solar panels. Once completed, SolarAfrica will be able to distribute solar energy from De Aar to various commercial and industrial businesses across South Africa before moving on to the project's second phase.

McDonald added, "This achievement underscores the immense potential of solar energy in South Africa. While space is limited and allocated to businesses on a first-come, first-served basis, we are working to ensure we can offer affordable, flexible and sustainable wheeling to as many customers as possible throughout each project phase."