By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Global wind and solar company, Mainstream Renewable Power (“Mainstream”), has announced that twelve of its projects have won preferred bidder status in Round 5 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).
The wind and solar projects, which have a total capacity of 1.27 GW, represent half of the total allocation in the Round, which was the most competitive to date, being almost 4 times oversubscribed.
The win makes Mainstream the most successful company in the history of the South African renewable energy procurement programme, with over 2.1 GW awarded to date.
This includes 850 MW of wind and solar generation assets that Mainstream has already delivered into commercial operation across Rounds 1, 3 and 4 of the REIPPPP.
Mainstream has achieved a number of firsts in the REIPPP including constructing South Africa’s first self-build substation as well as bringing the first projects to financial close and to complete construction in Rounds 1, 3 and 4.
The Mainstream-led consortium, named “Ikamva” which means “the future” in Xhosa, will deliver six onshore wind projects and six solar PV projects, including the first REIPPPP project in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province.
The consortium brings together a range of expertise, led by Mainstream’s 100% African team of over a hundred professionals, and comprises Globeleq, Africa Rainbow Energy & Power, H1 Holdings and local community trusts, Yahoo news reports.
