The 85 MW De Aar 1 solar farm, which is 500 kilometers north of the coastal city of Port Elizabeth, will now be maintained and operated by Juwi Renewable Energies, the company announced yesterday.
The solar farm was included in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Program’s first bidding window and is the third-largest under Juwi’s management in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region (REI4P). It was the biggest solar project in that bid window when it was launched in 2014 as Solar Capital De Aar 1 for the South African grid.
“Renewable energy forms the backbone of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s energy crisis plan and we’re committed to doing our part in providing the country with clean and renewable electricity through the O&M of De Aar 1 and other Juwi utility scale projects,” says Christos Charalampidis, head of Juwi O&M for the EMEA region. “Our goal is to operate De Aar 1 with the highest reliability and energy yield for the national grid. We’re honored to have been entrusted with this critically important solar site. The award confirms our competence, dedication, and commitment to providing O&M services that ensure that the grid in South Africa is provided with reliable renewable electricity.”
The De Aar 1 project expands the portfolio of 400 MW of installed solar, wind, and hybrid renewable energy projects managed by Juwi South Africa, which currently stands at 5.5 GW globally. Juwi expanded its operational management portfolio in the EMEA region to over 500 MW with the purchase of the De Aar 1 solar farm. This is the second “third party” O&M facility that has been awarded to Juwi.
“Juwi is now expanding its focus, which historically centered on government procurement of utility scale projects (such as those under the South African REI4P) to include the development and building of solar PV and hybrid energy solutions for mines and other energy intensive users in Africa,” says Richard Doyle, managing director, Juwi South Africa. “Hybrid solutions include energy storage, which is essential to achieving energy resilience and reliability on the continent. We have a number of leading projects close to commission and in development.”
2017 saw Juwi install the largest solar-plus-storage hybrid system ever for the DeGrussa copper mine in western Australia. The system enabled the mine to save 5 million liters of diesel each year and cut CO2 emissions by 12,000 tons annually.
