Eskom has launched a tender for the second phase of a project to make land around its power stations available for the construction of private renewable energy projects, including large-scale solar systems.

The land included in the new tender, which will close on 27 February, could yield up to 500MW of new generation capacity from independent power producers (IPPs), Eskom said on Thursday.

The land lease programme, which was launched in April 2022, makes land available to IPPs that is close to network connection points, reducing the time needed to build new grid connection infrastructure.

“Rather than buying the electricity from the IPPs, Eskom facilitates a process for the IPPs to be able to wheel the power over the Eskom grid, either for their own consumption, or to sell on to other consumers,” it said.

“Eskom wants to work with the private sector to enable new capacity in line with the anticipated future, deregulated electricity industry.”

In April 2022, Eskom issued a request for proposals, as part of the first phase of the project, for the lease of 17 land parcels around the Majuba and Tutuka power stations in Mpumalanga. In October 2022, Eskom concluded lease agreements with five IPPs for the development of an estimated 1.8GW of new generation capacity.

“The IPPs are currently busy with project development and the required regulatory processes. Eskom is working closely with the IPPs and government to unlock key barriers such as environmental approvals, land re-zoning and grid connection applications in order to get the power onto the grid as soon as possible,” the utility said.

Read: Eskom signs first land deals for private solar, wind farms

“Eskom sees this as the continuation of a very promising project and plans to extend this to other areas and provinces where we have unused land that can be used for this purpose.” — © 2023 NewsCentral Media