TotalEnergies starts work on 216MW PV plant

TotalEnergies and its partners are launching construction of a major hybrid renewables project in South Africa, comprising a 216MW solar plant and a 500MWh battery storage system to manage the intermittency of solar production.

Located in the Northern Cape province, the site will supply dispatchable renewable electricity to the country's national grid for 20 years, equivalent to over 400GWh per year.

Under the terms of a PPA signed in November, and thanks to the storage system, the project will supply 75MW of dispatchable power to the national utility Eskom on a continuous basis from 5am to 9.30pm, which is for longer than the available sunshine.

The project is being developed by a consortium of TotalEnergies (35%), Hydra Storage Holding (35%) and a B-BBEE partner, Reatile Renewables (30%).

It has achieved financial close on 14 December and is expected to be operational in 2025, as part of the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

This was launched by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to develop electricity generation capacity and alleviate the country’s electricity supply constraints.

Senior vice president of renewables at TotalEnergies Vincent Stoquart said: "Together with our partners, we are pleased to launch this major solar power generation and storage project in South Africa.

"Thanks to its innovative hybrid design, it will enable us to supply continuous green electricity over a longer period and beyond the hours of sunshine.

"This project will not only contribute to the country’s energy transition, but also to strengthening the resilience of its power system."