Photovoltaic Capacity To Increase by Another 890MW! South Africa Adjusts The Bidding Capacity for Renewable Energy Projects

    Recently, the Department of Electricity and Energy of South Africa announced that by reallocating the unused onshore wind power capacity from the seventh round of the Renewable Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP), an additional 890 megawatts (MW) of installed capacity for solar photovoltaic projects was added. As a result, the total allocated capacity for this round of the solar photovoltaic project procurement has increased to 3.94 gigawatts (GW), covering 18 independent power producer projects.

    It is reported that the seventh round of REIPPPP bidding concluded in December 2024, with an initial planned total capacity of 5 GW for renewable energy. Among them, no allocation was made for onshore wind power. Therefore, the South African government decided to transfer the idle wind power capacity to eligible photovoltaic projects. This is the second round of allocation results. Previously, in July 2025, the government had completed the transfer of 1.29 GW of wind power capacity to 6 photovoltaic projects. Adding this new addition, the cumulative allocated capacity reached 2.18 GW, doubling the initial capacity of 1.76 GW for this round of photovoltaic projects.

    The newly added 890MW capacity comes from 4 photovoltaic projects, with a total investment of 16 billion South African rand. It is expected to create 4,134 job opportunities. The project developers have committed to using 41% of the total cost for local procurement. Specifically, it includes the 240MW Rondebosch Solar Park and 240MW Springhaas No. 1 and 170MW Springhaas No. 6 solar facilities developed by Red Rocket South Africa in Free State Province, as well as the 240MW Corona Solar Project developed by ENGIE Group in North West Province.

    Dr. Kgogosenso Ramokopa, the Minister of Electricity and Energy of South Africa, disclosed that in the period from 2025 to 2026, 8 projects under the fifth round of the REIPPPP have been put into operation, with a total capacity of 800MW; another 1.61GW project is under construction and is expected to be put into operation successively from 2026 to 2027. Since the launch of this plan in 2010, the cumulative signed and operational power generation capacity in South Africa has reached 8.16GW. According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, by the end of 2024, the cumulative installed capacity of photovoltaic power in South Africa has reached 8.46GW.

    According to South Africa's "2025 Comprehensive Resource Plan", an additional capacity of over 105 GW of power generation will be added between 2025 and 2039, including 25 GW of photovoltaic power and 34 GW of wind power, etc. This flexible allocation of bidding capacity not only accelerates the deployment of renewable energy but also contributes to local economic growth and job creation, marking a solid step forward in South Africa's clean energy transition.