South Africa’s Eskom Seeking Bidders For 30 MW Solar Power Plant

South Africa’s state-owned electricity utility Eskom has issued a call for the selection of EPC contractors for the 30 MW Komati Power Station along with a separate bid for a 150 MW/600 MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) for the same location.  

For the solar PV project, the broad scope of work involves design, supply, installation, and commissioning, along with a 3-year operation and maintenance (O&M). The Komati Solar PV Power Plant will need to be built near the town of Komati in the Mpumalanga province. It should have a maximum export capacity (MEC) of 11.9 MW AC at the point of connection.  

The utility plans to apply part of the proceeds received from the World Bank towards the cost of the Eskom Just Energy Transition Project (EJETP) towards payments for the solar as well as the BESS projects.  

In 2022, it received $497 million in World Bank financing to install 220 MW solar and wind along with 150 MW storage capacity to repurpose its Komati Coal-Fired Power Plant. It aims for this to be a demonstration project to transition fossil-fuel projects in South Africa and elsewhere (see Renewables To Replace South African Coal Power Plant).   

These calls represent the Initial Selection process and a formal request for proposals (RFP) round is likely to be announced in December 2024 for the solar PV project, and in November 2024 for the BESS component.  

While both the calls were issued on August 23, 2024, the applications for initial selection for the solar PV tender will be admitted till October 29, 2024, whereas bids for the BESS component can be submitted till October 25, 2024. Tender details are available on Eskom’s tender bulletin website.   

In April 2024, Eskom launched a public bidding process for a 75 MW AC solar power plant at its Lethabo Power Station in the Free State (see South African Coal Power Plant Site To Host Solar Project).