South Africa’s Renergen has accused a solar energy project of “unauthorised construction” in a location where the natural gas producer holds a production right.

Renergen “expressed concerns” over the building of the Springbok Solar project “in an area designated for future natural gas extraction”, the company said in a statement issued via the JSE.

“In the case of Springbok Solar project, construction commenced without our prior consent or a co-existence agreement,” Renergen said, without naming the developer.

SOLA Group lists the 150MW Springbok project in Virginia in the Free State on its website as being under construction. The company said the Springbok Solar plant has “obtained all necessary lawful authorisations to begin construction of its facility”

“Prior to construction, all relevant stakeholders, including Renergen, were consulted. From April 2022, Renergen were provided with the plant location and were consulted on more than 10 occasions, including through in-person meetings, to address any potential objections, including those related to the facility’s layout,” SOLA Group said.

“The area designated for the solar facility is not highlighted for gas or mineral production activities in any of Renergen’s existing publicly available prospecting or production plans or permit applications. Renergen did not express any objections until several months into construction after which they issued letters requesting alteration of the layout, demanded compensation, and instructed that Springbok halt construction,” it said.

‘Material misreprensentation’

“Renergen has subsequently appealed several of Springbok’s approvals and initiated legal proceedings. In defence of these appeals, Springbok has become aware that Renergen’s claim to Helium rights is in fact unlawful and has therefore commenced an appeal of the amendment to the production right, which was applied for on the basis of a material misrepresentation by Renergen.”

The dispute highlights South Africa’s transition from dependence on coal to a wider range of technologies including natural gas, nuclear and renewable energy projects. The country is forecast to add 50GW of wind and solar stations by 2030 to replace some of the generation from the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.

Read: Namibia to build giant solar farm in its southern desert

Renergen counts itself as contributing to the nation’s decarbonisation path with the production of natural gas that’s rich in helium, which is “essential in fabricating solar panels and wind turbines”, CEO Stefano Marani said in the company’s statement.

Other solar facilities and battery energy storage system facilities are planned within Renergen’s production right area, the company said. — Paul Burkhardt, (c) 2024 Bloomberg LP, with additional reporting (c) 2024 NewsCentral Media

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