Leading African independent power producer Globeleq says the 153 MW/612 MWh Red Sands project, which was recently awarded preferred bidder status under South Africa ’s inaugural battery storage public procurement round, will be the largest standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) in Africa and will carry an investment value of R5.7-billion.
One of the largest photovoltaic power plants in Namibia. The complex has an installed nominal output of 5.280 MWp and at the time of its commissioning (September 2017) Karibib was 1 of the top 5 largest photovoltaic power plant in Namibia.
“Electricity storage is going to be key not only in helping South Africa meet its considerable industrial and domestic demand for energy but also in meeting growing demand right across Africa as more and more renewable energy projects benefit from the advances our industry has made with battery storage technology,” Scholey said.
The first construction works on the photovoltaic power plant did start in October of 2016 and at the start of June 2017 Karibib was ceremonially opened. Project was developed and jointly executed in engineering, procurement and construction. COD was reached after 12 weeks of construction.
Located about 100 km southeast of Upington, the lithium-ion battery project will be constructed on a 5 ha site and will connect to the grid through the Eskom Garona substation, which Globeleq says will be upgraded by Red Sands to ensure that full network support capabilities of the batteries can be utilised.
Shift Innovation has designed a mounting system which would meet the loading requirements for the mounting of solar modules on roof tops of this type. Framed Canadian Solar 330 watt modules have been incorporated in the design as per the tender document. This is a slight variation (improvement) from the 320 Watt modules specified.