Minister of Minieral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantaashe has signed the implementation agreement, meaning Saudi listed ACWA Power Project, a water desalination company has been declared as one of the preferred bidders in the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement program with the lowest tariff.
Located in Northern Cape, the plant will be equipped with the largest solar installation in the country of 442MW, with about 1200 MWh of battery storage which will be one of the highest in the world.
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Operations are expected to start by the second quarter of 2026, to add a significant dispatchable capacity onto the grid.
Mantashe signed the implementation agreement and Segomoco Scheppers from Eskom signed the power purchase agreement with ACWA Power Project DAO signatory Ashley Singh.
Project DAO includes a significant transmission, integration scope which includes both transmission substation capacity upgrades and a new distribution station, which will facilitate access to the grid for other renewable projects in the area and assist in alleviating the Northern Cape grid congestion.
Marco Arcelli, Chief executive officer of ACWA power affirmed how proud the ACWA Power family was to contribute to the socio economic development of the country through the desalinated water.
“ACWA Power is firmly committed to leading the energy transition in high-growth markets, and we are proud to meaningfully contribute to the socio-economic development of South Africa through our mission to deliver power, desalinated water, and green hydrogen reliably and responsibly at an affordable cost. Project DAO is set to be yet another ACWA Power flagship project in South Africa, following the success of the Bokpoort and Redstone CSP projects, in offering clean energy to the country and significant socio-economic value to its surrounding communities,” he said.
The project DAO has a total costs of around USD 800 million and will be one of the largest hybrid investments in the South African renewable energy sector, in construction.
ACWA Power is the lead developer, Thebe Investment Corporation Pty Ltd and Aventro Investments Pty Ltd are all part of the list of investors.
The project is expected to deliver efficient clean energy to the national grid, while reinforcing the social economic framework in the form of job opportunities.
There’s predictions that the procet will cerat more than 1 000 construction jobs at peak with about 25% from the local community .
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