Saudi-listed ACWA Power announced on Tuesday that that it signed Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for its ‘ACWA Power Project DAO’ dispatchable renewable hybrid plant in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.

The Independent Power Producer (IPP) project, the largest of its kind in South Africa, has a contracted capacity of 150 megawatts (MW), according to an ACWA Power press statement.

The Tadawul-listed ACWA Power is the lead shareholder and developer of Project DAO, which was declared as one of the preferred bidders in the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme in 2021.

The ACWA-Power led consortium, which included Thebe Investment Corporation and Aventro Investments, bid a tariff of 1.46 rands/kWhr (0.08 USD/ kWhr), according to the official website of Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which is being managed by Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.

The $800 million IPP project comprises a 442 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant with about 1,200 MWh of battery storage, the ACWA Power statement said. The project scope also includes transmission substation capacity upgrades and a new distribution station.

Commencement of operations is scheduled by the second quarter of 2026.

The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, signed the Implementation Agreement and Segomoco Scheppers from Eskom signed the PPA with ACWA Power Project DAO signatory Ashley Singh.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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