The €200 million PV plant will be amongst the largest to date in Africa. Construction will commence by July 2012 and the plant will be in commercial operation by August 2013, the company said.
Raymond Carlsen, CEO of Scatec Solar, said his team has actively been developing project opportunities in South Africa for the past two years.
This project is being developed by Scatec Solar through its South African joint-venture company Scatec Solar SA.
The plant will be located in Kalkbult in the sun drenched Northern Cape region that boasts some of the best conditions for solar power anywhere in the world.
Covering an area of 105 ha, comparable to about 140 football fields, the plant will produce in excess of 145 million kWh annually, enough to cover the electricity demand of 35 000 South African households.
Scatec Solar and its contractors will provide the requisite training, certifications and follow-up to a predominantly unskilled work force to assure that needed skills are developed locally, said Jed Borrill, Managing Director of Scatec Solar SA.
The power will be fed into the local grid network and sold through a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement with the local utility company, Eskom.
Harvesting solar power through this plant represents CO2 abatements of approx 125 000 tons per year.
The project is financed through South Africa’s largest commercial bank, Standard Bank. The consortium providing the equity finance consists of Scatec Solar as the majority owner, Standard Bank, Old Mutual Life Assurance Company and Simacel.
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