BioTherm Energy, the African renewable energy development platform and power producer, has reached financial close on a 284-megawatt portfolio of wind and solar projects in South Africa as part of the Fourth Round of the South African Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPP).
The four projects, which will begin construction shortly, are estimated to be fully operational by 2020. The projects further evidence BioTherm’s expansion and consolidation of its leading development footprint by providing, clean, affordable and reliable electricity.
The projects are as follows:
- Golden Valley – 120 megawatt Wind
Expected to reach commercial operations by Q4 2020
EPC provided by Goldwind
- Excelsior – 32 megawatt Wind
Expected to reach commercial operations by Q4 2019
EPC provided by Goldwind
- Konkoonsies II – 86 megawatt Solar PV
Expected to reach commercial operations by Q1 2020
EPC provided by ET Solutions AG
- Aggeneys – 45 megawatt Solar PV
Expected to reach commercial operations by Q3 2019
EPC provided by ET Solutions AG
The total cost for the portfolio of projects is approximately $500 million. All four projects have 20-year inflation-linked power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Eskom, the South African national utility, and are backed by sovereign guarantees provided by the National Treasury.
Presently, the company’s pipeline consists of more than 2 gigawatts of wind and solar projects, of which it has secured PPAs, and it is nearing construction on more than 440 megawatts in South Africa, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, outside of the REIPPP program.
