Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on 8 Preferred Bidders under Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme and 8 Preferred Bidders under Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement P
Announcement of Preferred Bidders for the 7th Bid Window of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) and the 2nd Bid Window of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP)
The Minister of Electricity and Energy, Hon. Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, announced the appointment of 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Bid Window 7, with a combined Contracted Capacity of 1760 MW, and a further 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP) Bid Window 2.
Both Bid Windows were released to market on 14 December 2023 and bids were received during August 2024. Evaluations were conducted over 3 months by Independent Bid Evaluation Committees under strict security measures at the IPP Office.
REIPPPP BID WINDOW 7
The Seventh Bid Window of the REIPPPP (REIPPPP BW 7) was designed to facilitate the procurement of up to 5 000 MW on renewable energy capacity, comprising 1 800 MW Solar PV and 3 200 MW Onshore Wind capacity.
The Department received a total of 48 Bid Responses, totaling over 10,2GW, including forty (40) from Solar PV and eight (8) from Onshore Wind projects on 15 August 2024. Following the independent evaluation, thirty (30) Solar PV projects and 4 (four) Onshore Wind projects were evaluated as compliant with the requirements of the Request for Proposals (RFP).
Of these, 8 (eight) Solar PV projects, totaling 1 760MW, have been appointed as Preferred Bidders under the REIPPPP Bid Window 7.
The eight Preferred Bidders are as follows:
The Department is further considering the appointment of additional compliant bidders in both Onshore Wind and Solar PV that are eligible for appointment as Preferred Bidders, subject to value for money negotiations and the re-allocation of MWunder this bid window from Onshore Wind Technology to Solar PV Technology, as provided for in the Request for Proposals (RFP). Further announcements will follow in this regard.
Total investments from the eight (8) Solar PV Preferred Bidders in this bid window is R31.4 billion. South African Equity Participation of 49% across all the Preferred Bidders and average Black Economic Empowerment participation of 46% have been committed in this Bid Window.
The eight (8) Solar PV Preferred Bidders have committed to creating a total of 6 971 job opportunities for South African citizens (measured in job years) during both the construction and operational phases of the contracts. These projects will allocate 38.8% of their Total Project Costs to Local Content, equating to R7.8 billion during construction and R2.4 billion during the operation and maintenance phases.
The Preferred Bidders have also undertaken to invest R3 billion on Black Enterprise Procurement, R2 billion in B-BBEE Procurement on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) and Exempt Micro Enterprises (EMEs), and an additional R333 million in B-BBEE Procurement specifically for Black Women.
Furthermore, the Preferred Bidders have undertaken to spend a total of R73 million in Enterprise Development, R129 million in Socio-Economic Development, and R138 million in Skills Development initiatives over the lifetime of the projects.
BESIPPPP BID WINDOW 2
The second Battery Energy Storage Programme in South Africa is a critical measure to assist in providing the ancillary services required by the power system, and increasing the available grid capacity in the North West, Gauteng and Free State Supply Areas.
The site-specific BESIPPPP Bid Window 2 is designed to facilitate the procurement of up to 615 Megawatts (MW) from facilities that will provide Capacity, Energy and Ancillary Services to Eskom at eight (8) specified sites, therefore only one Preferred Bidder is appointed per site.
The Department received 31 Bid Responses on the 29th of August 2024. Following the independent evaluation conducted from September to November 2024, the following 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders, with a total investment of R12.8 billion, have been appointed under this Bid Window:
The BESIPPPP BW2 round was found to be highly competitive, with a marked increase in the number of bids relative to Battery Energy Storage BW 1, resulting in a 35% decrease in the average evaluation price, compared to Bid Window 1 prices.
The 8 (eight) Preferred Bidders have committed to 41% black shareholding in the IPP Project Companies, up to 27% shareholding by construction contractors and up to 36% in operations contractors.
The Preferred Bidders have committed to creating a total of 1 570 job opportunities for RSA citizens (measured in job years), during construction and operations.
These projects will allocate 31% of their Total Project Costs to Local Content, equating to R2.6 billion during construction and R2.5 billion during the operation and maintenance phases.
The Preferred Bidders have also undertaken to invest R1.8 billion on Black Enterprise Procurement, R1.4 billion in B-BBEE Procurement on Qualifying Small Enterprises (QSEs) and Exempt Micro Enterprises (EMEs), and an additional R 659 million in B-BBEE Procurement specifically for Black Women.
The Preferred Bidders have also committed to spend R 316 million on Supplier Development, Skills Development, Bursaries for Black Students, Skills Development for Black disabled people, and Socio-Economic Development initiatives over the life-time of the projects.
The Minister congratulated the selected Preferred Bidders and wished them success as they start preparations for Commercial Close.
Media enquiries: Tsakane Khambane, Ministerial Spokesperson
Mobile: 082 084 5566
