Shumba advances Tati Solar project
Mbongeni Mguni | Thursday August 1, 2024 13:25
Originally conceived more than three years ago, the Tati Solar photovoltaic project will sit on 300 hectares and is expected to cost more than P800 million.
In a quarterly activity update released this week, Shumba Energy directors said procurement for Engineering, Procurement and Construction was nearing completion, with a contract due to be finalised soon. Other key agreements including financing, land lease amendments, as well as, Environment Social and Governance reports are being completed. The project has been granted conditional membership by the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), the SADC regional electricity market.
Shumba directors said this membership category is designed to support generators by confirming their participation in SAPP power markets once the projects become commercially operational. By being the country’s first private sector renewable plant to sell solar directly into the SAPP, Shumba will be the first to test the pricing around renewable energy, at a time when nearly all the power available in the market is coal-fired.
The pricing is expected to further boost renewable generation in the country, with private sector investors developing utility-scale projects based on the abundant solar energy and flat landscapes in the country.