In round six of the Independent Power Producers’ Programme, Red Rocket (REIPPPP) , a Cape Town-based Independent Power Producer (IPP), secured an unprecedented 440 MW of solar projects, a month after obtaining Legal Close on three wind projects.
The announcement was recently made by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), which revealed that Red Rocket won more than 50% of the MWs, beating out over 56 bid responses that the department received in the competitive bid window in both wind and solar.
The company was going up against large multinational companies in arguably the toughest market, and in an incredibly competitive bid round, the fully integrated IPP has won the largest share of this bid window's six allocations.
Matteo Brambilla, CEO of Red Rocket, said they are proud of this bid window win.
“This is a historic REIPPPP round, with Red Rocket securing most of it. We have a consistent record of winning projects in the REIPPP bidding process from rounds one through six – certainly a powerful track record of bid, close, and build to support SA’s energy crisis with the cheapest tariffs achievable,” said Brambilla.
He said the projects that have been awarded preferred bidder status are Virginia Solar Park with a contracted capacity of 240 MW and Good Hope Solar Park with a contracted capacity of 200 MW. Both projects are in the Free State.
“The projects bid under a consortium, led by Red Rocket, includes Reatile, Jade-Sky Energy, and local community trusts,” he said.
Red Rocket Consortium also reached legal close on three wind projects in November of this year. The projects, Brandvalley and Rietkloof wind farms that border the Western and Northern Cape provinces, and Wolf wind farm in the Eastern Cape, were awarded Preferred Bidder Status in October 2021, under Round 5 or the Fifth Bid Submission Phase of the REIPPPP.
The agreements were concluded at the IPP Office in Centurion with the signing of the Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with Eskom and the Implementation Agreements (IAs) with DMRE.
In a statement Red Rocket said the three wind energy projects will be built over a period of 24 months, adding a total of 364 MW of capacity to the Eskom grid by the end of 2024.
“In excess of the equivalent of 600 job years for South African citizens will be created during the construction and operation periods for each of the projects. Red Rocket South Africa will coordinate the construction of the wind farms with Vestas wind turbines and local contractors,” reads the statement.