South Africa Solar Photovoltaic (PV) News

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• September 2023: Ørsted announced that the company entered its first solar project in the United Kingdom. The project, which will have a capacity of 740 MW, is located in Nottinghamshire near the border of Lincolnshire and is being co-developed with PS Renewables.
• June 2023: The UK Government approved the construction of the country's largest solar farm, large enough to power about 60,000 households, on farmland near Chelmsford. Longfield Solar Farm, which spans 380 hectares of intensive arable farmland near Terling, has the potential to generate enough electricity to supply four times the energy needs of all new dwellings planned for Chelmsford over the next 13 years.
• June 2023: AMPYR Solar Europe announced the acquisition of a 390 MWp Solar PV + BESS portfolio from Tyler Hill, which includes sites across the United Kingdom. The five projects have grid security and are being presented for planning approval. AMPYR Solar Europe will work with Tyler Hill to bring the assets to a "ready-to-build" level before beginning construction in 2024.

• March 2024: AMEA Power, a Dubai-based renewables developer, announced that it is progressing with its 500-MW Abydos solar project in Egypt. The project is located in Kom Ombo, Aswan governorate, and has power purchase agreements in place with the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC).
• June 2023: A group of companies, including Abu Dhabi’s Masdar, signed an agreement with Egypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority. The agreement is to secure land for a USD 10 billion wind farm. The farm will have a capacity of 10 GW and will produce 47,790 GW hours of clean energy annually.

• April 2023: ArcelorMittal announced that the company's Brazilian entity, ArcelorMittal Brazil, formed a joint venture with the Brazilian renewable energy company Casa dos Ventos to develop the 554 MW Babilonia wind power project. The project is expected to be developed at a cost of USD 800 million and will be located in the central region of Bahia, northeast Brazil. ArcelorMittal is anticipated to hold a 55% share in the joint venture, and the remaining share will be held by Casa dos Ventos.
• January 2023: Cepsa announced that it would build three new solar power projects in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The total capacity of the three solar energy farms is expected to be 400 MW. The projects are expected to be developed with an investment of USD 305 million in the towns of Campo de Criptana and Arenales de San Gregorio.
• May 2022: NJR Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) started construction on an 8.9-MW floating solar installation in Millburn, New Jersey, which is expected to be the largest floating array in the United States. The project uses a floating racking system, and 16,510 solar panels are expected to be installed on a reservoir located at the New Jersey American Water Canoe Brook Water Treatment Plant. The clean power generated by the array is anticipated to provide approximately 95% of the facility's annual power needs through a power purchase agreement with CEV.

• February 2024: Norwegian renewable energy developer Scatec started commercial operation of 150 megawatt solar PV plants in Pakistan. The solar power projects boast an annual generation capacity of 300 gigawatt hours. Scatec also signed a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Central Power Purchasing Agency of Pakistan.
• October 2023: The Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan (WAPDA) announced issuing a tender notice inviting proposals for the installation, design, commissioning, and testing of a substantial 300 megawatt Floating Solar PV Plant. The project is to be located within the Tarbela - Barotha Hydropower Complex in Pakistan.

• February 2024: ReNew Energy Global PLC, an Indian decarbonization solutions company, collaborated with Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries Ltd to sell 350 MW of solar energy projects. The deal is estimated to be valued at around USD 241 million.
• October 2023: The Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) launched a tender in the Indian market to develop about 1 GW of interstate transmission grid-connected solar projects. The solar projects to be developed were likely to witness the signing off of a 25-year power purchase agreement between developers and SECI. The onset of such gigawatt-scale solar tenders and the development of projects are expected to create a spur in the solar energy market in the future.
• March 2023: BELECTRIC Solar Ltd UK and NextEnergy Solar Fund signed a framework agreement for over 150 MWp in O&M, following a competitive tendering process conducted by WiseEnergy. After signing a framework agreement for the next three years, BELECTRIC was to add an anticipated portfolio of at least ten solar farms in the United Kingdom with a total capacity of 150 MWp to its O&M footprint. The solar power plants range from 5 MW to 34 MW in capacity and are located in several counties across England, including Dorset, Lincolnshire, and East Sussex.

• January 2024: Mainstream Energy Solution Ltd commenced operations at a newly constructed facility in Zungeru, central Nigeria. This is in addition to the other two major hydroelectric plants operated by the company in Nigeria. The 700-megawatt new plant, funded by a USD 1.3 billion loan from China, is being run by Mainstream's subsidiary, Penstock Energy Ltd.
• August 2023: GE Vernova initiated the construction of a natural gas-fired power plant in Nigeria as part of the government's efforts to address electricity shortages. The Gwagwalada Independent Power Plant, with a capacity of 1,350 MW and fueled by locally sourced gas, is projected to contribute approximately 11% of the nation's electricity once fully operational. Situated near Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the plant will be developed in three phases, with GE Vernova collaborating with two other entities on engineering and construction tasks.

• April 2024: Apple announced forming a joint venture with renewable energy developer CleanMax to invest in six rooftop solar projects to power its operations in India. The solar project is expected to have a total capacity of 14.4 MW and, when operational, will provide a local solution to power the company’s offices and two retail stores in Mumbai and New Delhi.
• March 2024: GAIL (India) announced an invitation for bids regarding a rooftop solar project. This project is expected to involve designing, supplying, installing, testing, and commissioning a grid-tied rooftop solar PV (photovoltaic) system. Additionally, this initiative includes a comprehensive 5-year Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) to supply electricity generated by the project to the Krishna Godavari Basin area.

• March 2023: Solitek announced the construction of a solar PV module manufacturing factory in Italy with a 600 MW annual capacity. The company is expected to build its facility in the Benevento region with a EUR 50 million (USD 53.5 million) investment and come online in quarter two of 2024. Also, the company plans to add storage system production with a 1 GWh/year capacity.
• March 2023: An Italian solar panel manufacturer, FuturaSun, announced plans to construct a 2 GW solar module manufacturing facility in Veneto, Italy. The company was expected to invest EUR 25 million (USD 26.4 million) in the new facility, which will likely produce high-efficiency solar panels. It has acquired 24,000 square meters of land for this new factory.

• February 2024: TotalEnergies SE concluded a deal with Synergia to acquire the 59 MW Dehesa Nueva del Rey solar PV project in Toledo province. Located in the town of Sesena, the project consists of over 95,000 solar PV panels and will be capable of meeting the energy demand of over 33,000 homes annually.
• December 2023: MET Group announced that the company’s first solar projects in Spain have started commercial operations. The Puerto Real 3 project, located in the Andalusia region, covers 130 hectares and includes over 88,000 solar panels. Its installed capacity is 50 MW.

• May 2023: TotalEnergies signed Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (CPPAs) with Sasol South Africa and Air Liquide Large Industries South Africa for the provision of 260 MW of renewable power over a 20-year period, which included a 120 MW solar plant too.
• May 2023: Solar Capital connected an 86 MW solar PV plant to the grid in South Africa's Northern Cape. The new solar farm is expected to generate enough energy to power thousands of homes and businesses in the region. Sungrow has supplied its SG3125HV PV inverters to the project.
• April 2022: Talesun Solar, a leading photovoltaic (PV) module manufacturer, signed a cooperation agreement with South Africa’s local manufacturer, ARTsolar, to meet the requirements of the South African Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement (MIP) program. As a result of this partnership, the two companies jointly create more business value by producing large-format PV modules in South Africa.