SOUTH AFRICA: TOTALENERGIES LAUNCHES CONSTRUCTION OF A 216 MW SOLAR PLANT WITH BATTERY STORAGE

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

Under the terms of a Power Purchase Agreement signed in November, and thanks to the storage system, the project will supply 75 MW of dispatchable power to the national utility Eskom on a continuous basis from 5 a.m. to 9.30 p.m., i.e., 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 launched by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy to develop electricity generation capacity and alleviate the country’s electricity supply constraints.

“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,” said Vincent Stoquart, Senior Vice President, Renewables at TotalEnergies.