IDC gives renewable energy big boost

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27-07-2022
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Sunday World
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The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has funded H1 Holdings, a BEE group, in a deal that creates one of the world’s biggest solar photo- voltaic (PV) plants in the Northern Cape.

The IDC, which has already ploughed R15.6-billion into South African renewable energy, said the deal with H1 follows many other such transactions in the renewable energy space.

IDC’s divisional executive for mining, metals, infrastructure and energy, Reginald Demana, described the IDC investment in the project as one of the corporation’s landmark investments in the renewable energy space.

“The IDC is very excited to be one of the funders of this project. This project speaks to the ethos and mandate of what the corporation stands for, which is the industrialisation of our economy, ensuring energy security, creation of jobs, and playing a key role in facilitating meaningful transformation,” said Demana.

H1 is the empowerment partner of Norwegian renewable energy manufacturer Scatec in the development of a solar PV and energy battery storage facility in the Northern Cape.

The construction of the facility is set to commence after three Scatec Kenhardt projects reached a financial close on July 18.

Among the most salient features of this project is that it will have an installed solar PV capacity of 540MW and a battery storage capacity of 225MW/1 140MWh.

A notable aspect of this transaction is that this project will generate dispatchable power that will contribute to the country’s installed baseload capacity and is underpinned by a 20-year power purchasing agreement with Eskom.

It will include about two million solar PV modules with construction expected to take just over a year before power will be fed to the grid.

More than 2 000 jobs are expected to be created during the construction period.

“Another attribute of this transaction is that it affirms the IDC’s commitment to broaden the pool of black industrialists looking to break into key sectors of the economy,” Demana said.

Reyburn Hendricks, the CEO of H1 Holdings, said: “H1 is proud to play a role in providing benefit to the economy from an energy security perspective.

“We look forward to working with our funding partners, the IDC, as well as our development partner Scatec in making a contribution to meeting South Africa’s commitment to a lower-carbon energy system.”

Jan Fourie, Scatec’s general manager for sub-Saharan Africa, said: “This is an important milestone in the procurement of renewable energy and proves that the sector can be relied upon to deliver much-needed electricity capacity to the grid.”