South Africa launches renewables procurement round for 5 000 MW of wind and solar

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has released the much-anticipated and delayed seventh bid window (BW7) of Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), through which it will be seeking bids for the development of 3 200 MW of wind and 1 800 MW of solar photovoltaic (PV). In a statement, the department notes that BW7 was the first bidding round launched in line with the Ministerial Determination published by Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe in December 2022. The determination outlined an intention to procure 14 771 MW of new generation and storage capacity, including 3 940 MW of solar PV, 9 600 MW of wind and 1 231 MW of battery energy storage.