“Bidders with good prices and higher economic development have a higher chance of succeeding, subject to having met the qualification criteria,” said Energy Minister, Dipuo Peters. As yet it’s not known how the allocation will breakdown by technology, though Peters, who will be the keynote speaker at Solar South Africa 2012, indicated that the initially proposed allocations may change if some technologies were found to be under or over-subscribed.
At the next level of the programme, first round bidders from the December window are now approaching the deadline for financial close in June. One of the winners from this round, Soitec, recently announced that it has attracted finance from Investec to begin construction on a 36MW CPV project in Tousrivier in the Western Cape later this year. Other developers have secured finance from the African Development Bank, Absa Bank, Standard Bank and the IFC.
It’s a hectic time for everyone in the industry, with plenty of questions still up for discussion, many of which will be discussed at Solar South Africa 2012 in June.
For additional information:
