ArcelorMittal looks for solar PPAs for 150 MW in South Africa

• The steel supplier intends to authorize power purchase arrangements for 6 operational sites in Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Vereeniging, Pretoria, Thabazimbi and Saldanha.

ArcelorMittal South Africa, an unit of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal Holdings, has welcomed independent power manufacturers (IPP) to submit job proposals for solar parks with a minimal size of 10 MW for 6 websites in South Africa. Interested IPPs have till Aug. 28, 2020, to reveal rate of interest.

ArcelorMittal South Africa aims to introduce renewable resource right into its energy mix to considerably lower the rate of power and also guarantee a secure as well as protected supply of electrical energy for its procedures, stated Kobus Verster, the handling director of the team's South African unit.

It is looking for to sign power acquisition agreements (PPAs) for six operational sites in Vanderbijlpark, Newcastle, Vereeniging, Pretoria, Thabazimbi and Saldanha. "The power plants in Vanderbijlpark will certainly have a capability of 10 MW as well as 100 MW, while the various other sites will each have a 10 MW power plant. The land for solar nuclear power plant will certainly be provided by ArcelorMittal South Africa," claimed the team.

The chosen firms will have numerous goals. They will certainly require to finish all pre-feasibility as well as banking feasibility studies to verify the feasibility of the project's economic as well as technological aspects. They will also perform an environmental influence analysis and other research studies required for the implementation of the job.

IPPs will certainly also be responsible for getting all government as well as legal permits and licenses required for the setup of PV plants. In addition, they will need to discover the needed funding for the advancement and implementation of the task, to perform all design functions, supply and also construction.

South African services are resorting to solar and renewables to lower their dependence on Eskom. But the Covid-19 pandemic has really helped bothered the South African utility to momentarily solve the load-shedding tests it deals with. Just recently, it advised electrical power consumers that it does not anticipate any tons dropping throughout the country's lockdown period, because of the recurring crisis and also reduced power demand.

In mid-May, South Africa-based chemicals producer Sasol began to look for companions to possibly release renewable resource jobs by kicking off an ask for information (RFI) procedure to safeguard electrical power supplies for its domestic procedures. "We mean acquiring, in total, roughly 600 MW of eco-friendly electricity capacity with the purpose of lowering our greenhouse gas emissions by about 1.6 million tons per year," stated Sasol Chief Sustainability Officer Hermann Wenhold.