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The project expected to be constructed within 24 months The Oasis 1 Mookodi battery energy storage systems (BESS) project reached commercial close on Wednesday, 16 October 2024. This is in less than a year after being awarded under the Energy Storage Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (ESIPPPP). The Minister of Electricity and Energy, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, together with representatives for the National Transmission Company of South Africa (NTCSA) the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the project sponsors were in attendance during the signing of project documents in Cape Town. The financial close is scheduled to follow in November 2024, with the project expected to be constructed within 24 months. The Oasis consortium, which was granted three of the five projects under the first energy storage bid window, is led by EDF in partnership with local organisation EDF Renewables (EDFR), with Mulilo as a co-sponsor and equity partners Pele Energy Group and Gibb-Crede. Each project includes a 5% ownership stake in local communities through a Community Trust. The Oasis 1 portfolio comprises three separate projects: Mookodi (77MW capacity with 308MWh storage), Aggeneis (77MW capacity with 308MWh storage), and Nieuwehoop (103 MW capacity with 412 MWh storage), totalling 257MW of capacity and 1,028MWh of storage. All projects are located in the Northern Cape Supply Area. Job creation and investment into local economy The projects go back to November 2023, when Minister Gwede Mantashe, announced the winning bidders. He stated at the time that the first grid-scale private sector energy storage programme in South Africa, launched in March 2023, would be a “critical measure to assist in increasing the available grid capacity in the Northern Cape Supply Area through the utilisation of energy storage.” He said the four bidder projects had attracted over R10 billion in investment into the country’s economy. “The appointed preferred bidders have also all made economic development commitments, notwithstanding the fact that such commitments were not mandatory for this BESIPPPP BW1 round. The Preferred Bidders have committed to creating a total of 992 job opportunities for South African citizens (measured in job years) during the construction and operations phases of the contract. “These projects will further spend over R3.2 billion on local content and over R4.4 billion on preferential procurement from BBBEE, black enterprises, QSEs, and ESEs and on enterprise development initiatives over the life-time of the projects (15 years). Encouragingly, the Preferred Bidders have also committed between 10% and 32% shareholding by black women,” he stated. The batteries in the ESIPPP programme will be dispatched through the national grid and provide three applications: Grid constraint relief: Helping to relieve grid constraints and increase the uptake of renewable energy by absorbing power that cannot be evacuated and releasing it during peak times. Energy Arbitrage: Helping to shift cheap energy produced during low-demand periods to peak hours, avoiding or minimising the use of diesel generators. Ancillary services: Helping to stabilise the grid for short periods of time (seconds–minutes, sometimes hours) by providing/absorbing power. Featured Image(left to right): Jacob Mbele, DMRE Director-General; Laurent Clement, EDF Africa Vice-President; Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister of Electricity and Energy; Alberto Gambacorta, Vice-President of Business Development at Scatec; Segomoco Scheppers, NTCSA Interim CEO; and Tshifhiwa Magoro, Head of the IPP Office. |
