Dubai-headquartered developer Amea Power has commissioned its 120 MW Doornhoek solar PV project in South Africa.

Located in the country’s North West province, the project is the first awarded under the sixth bid window of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) to reach commercial operations. The sixth round concluded in late 2022 with the award of five solar projects totaling 860 MW.

The $120 million facility was financed through $100 million in debt provided by Standard Bank South Africa, alongside $8 million in equity funding from the Industrial Development Corporation to support the participation of local partners. Amea Power says the project was developed in partnership with local companies Ziyanda Energy and Dzimuzwo Energy.

The Doornhoek project is Amea Power’s first operational asset in South Africa. The company says it is working on two battery energy storage projects, each with a capacity of more than 300 MWh, in the North West province which were awarded under the second bid window of South Africa’s equivalent independent power producer procurement program for energy storage.

In December, Amea Power began building a 1 GW/600 MWh solar-plus-storage plant in Egypt that it has billed as Africa’s largest single-site hybrid renewable facility. The company says its project pipeline is now in excess of 6 GW, with projects spanning 20 countries.

South Africa's cumulative solar capacity currently stands in excess of 10 GW, after deploying 1.6 GW last year. The country’s largest solar project under development, a 620 MW site located in South Africa’s Free State, reached financial close in March.

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