Eskom has launched tenders for the second phase of land lease parcels for renewable energy producers independent power producers (IPPs).
The power utility said in a statement that in December, it issued a Request For a Proposal (RFP), as part of the second phase of the Land Leasing Program for four parcels of land in Mpumalanga.
Eskom also estimates that the land it has entered could generate up to 500MW of new generation capacity from IPPs.
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Closing date
The tender can be viewed in the Eskom Tender Bulletin on the Eskom website and will close next month.
“Eskom’s Land Lease Program will be launched in April 2022. Through this program, Eskom will provide some land for IPPS to build new power generation capacity. These plots of land are located in close proximity to network connection points, reducing the time required to build new network connection infrastructure.
“Instead of buying electricity from IPPS, Eskom is facilitating the process for IPPs to be able to sell power on the Eskom network, for their own consumption, or to sell to other consumers. Eskom wants to work with the private sector to activate new capacity that matches the anticipated future, industry deregulated electricity,” Eskom said in a statement.
The first stage
In April last year, Eskom issued an RFP, as part of the first phase of the Land Leasing Project, to lease 17 parcels of land in Mpumalanga province around the Majuba and Tutuka Power Stations.
In October 2022, the electricity utility said it had concluded lease agreements with five IPPS for the development of 1,800MW of new generation capacity.
The IPP is currently busy with project development and the necessary regulatory process.
Eskom said it is working with IPPS and the government to unlock key hurdles such as environmental approvals, land rezoning and grid connection applications, in order to speed up grid entry.
“Eskom sees this as a continuation of a promising project and plans to extend this to other regions and provinces that have unused land that can be used for this purpose.”
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