The Upington complex in the North Cape Province of South Africa is being expanded with a new photovoltaic solar power plant. This is Dyason’s Klip 1 solar power plant recently commissioned by Scatec Solar, an independent power producer (IPP) in Norway. The 86 MWp facility is one of three solar power plants being built by Scatec Solar and its partners in the Upington complex.
The partners are Norfund, a Norwegian government private equity company with an 18% stake; H1 Holdings, a South African investment company wholly owned by black people, with 35%; and Upington’s surrounding community with 5%. According to Scatec Solar, Dyason’s Klip 1 solar power plant is capable of supplying 40,000 South African homes with electricity.
The IPP also says the new facility, “will earn 60% of the tariff until the commercial operation date in mid-March”. When completed, Upington’s solar complex will provide clean energy to around 120,000 homes and avoid carbon dioxide emissions of more than 600,000 tonnes a year.
A third solar power plant is expected to be built in the near future…
“This is another great achievement by our team in South Africa, which brought this important project on stream earlier than expected and has supported South Africa’s electricity supply at a time of very high demand for electricity. We will continue to develop renewable energy projects to meet South Africa’s electricity demand,” says Raymond Carlsen, Chairman and CEO of Scatec Solar.
The Dyason’s Klip 1 solar power plant is in addition to the Sirius solar power plant that was commissioned a few days ago in the Upington complex. Scatec Solar’s latest solar power plant in the complex will be commissioned in the coming months. The IPP will then have three solar power plants in the Upington complex with a cumulative capacity of 258 MWp.
Jean Marie Takouleu