The Northern Cape will soon be home to another Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) plant.

This comes after the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded preferred bidder status for a 100MW CSP project to a consortium led by SolarReserve, a global developer of utility-scale solar power projects and advanced solar thermal technology, and International Company for Water and Power Projects (ACWA Power), the Saudi water and power developer, owner and operator.

The project was developed in response to the departments Round 3 (CSP) Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP). The Redstone Solar Thermal Power project is scheduled to achieve financial close later in 2015 and commence operations in early 2018.

Technology first for SA

The Project features a molten salt energy storage technology, which is a first for South Africa, in a tower configuration which has the capability to support the country’s demand for energy when it’s needed most.

The 100 MW project with 12 hours of full-load energy storage will be able to reliably deliver a stable electricity supply to more than 200 000 South African homes during peak demand periods, even well after the sun has set.

“The Redstone project marks  an important technology advancement for South Africa in solar power,” said SolarReserve’s CEO Kevin Smith.

“Due to the fully integrated thermal energy storage, the plant will provide dispatchable power on-demand, just like conventional coal, oil, nuclear or natural gas-fired power plants, but without the harmful emissions or hazardous materials and without any fuel cost.”

The Redstone Solar Thermal Power Project will be located in Postmasburg, near Kimberley in the Northern Cape Province, adjacent to the 75 MW Lesedi and 96 MW Jasper photovoltaic (PV) solar power projects.

Together, the three projects comprise the world’s first combined CSP and PV solar park with a total of 271 MW of generating capacity.