SolarAfrica Energy has embarked on the construction of its inaugural large-scale solar park, SunCentral, located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. Initially developed by Soventix for submission to the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the project rights were later sold to SolarAfrica for the first phase.
The SunCentral project is set to become one of the largest solar initiatives in South Africa. The first phase will deliver a capacity of approximately 342 MW, with subsequent phases (2 and 3) expected to increase the total capacity to 1 GW. This public-private partnership is a crucial step in addressing South Africa's persistent electricity challenges.
The first phase of SunCentral comes with an investment of about 5 billion rands (272 million USD). Additionally, the main transmission substation, costing around 1 billion rands (54.5 million USD) and financed by SolarAfrica, will be pivotal in ensuring that the energy produced is effectively integrated into the national grid.
This project is part of South Africa’s REIPPPP, a government initiative aimed at increasing the production of renewable energy to diversify the country's energy mix and boost clean energy output.
