South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has launched a Request for Pre-Qualification and Proposal (the RFP) for the establishment of new generation capacity under the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Program.
The Minister has issued a determination with the concurrence of NERSA to ensure energy security, and that approximate 2,000 MWs is to be generated from a range of energy source technologies in accordance with the short-term risk mitigation strategy. The selected company (ies) will enter into PPAs with Eskom to provide new generation capacity in compliance with the Performance Requirements.
The procurement program shall target connection to the Grid for the new generation capacity as soon as reasonably possible, but by no later than 30 June 2022.
The Dispatchable power generation Projects may utilize Fuel to produce the Energy Output and may be comprised of more than one Facility and Project Site and such Projects will also be required to provide Ancillary Services. Additionally, in line with the above, the Department will procure such Capacity, Energy Output and Ancillary Services from a range of energy source technologies and the Department has designed the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Program and published the RFP to procure such Capacity, Energy Output and Ancillary Services from either a single Dispatchable Facility or a portfolio of Facilities which include Dispatchable and Non-Dispatchable Facilities.
Furthermore, the selected Projects will contribute towards socio-economic development and sustainable economic growth, while enabling and stimulating the participation of independent power producers in the electricity supply industry in South Africa.
The timeline for the process is as follows:
· Bid Submission Notification Date: 30 October 2020
· Bid Submission Date: 24 November 2020
· Announcement of Preferred Bidders: 15 December 2020
· Preferred Bidders to provide signed PB PD Undertakings to the Department: Not later than 15 (fifteen) Business Days after announcement of Preferred Bidders
· Commercial Close and Financial Close: 4 (four) months after announcement of Preferred Bidders