DBSA energises local Independent Power Producers

Ilanga CSP 1, a 100 MW power plant in the Northern Cape which came into operation on 30 November 2018, will produce enough clean energy to serve around 100,000 South African households, and will displace over 340,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year.

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​The flexible power plant uses parabolic trough technology which allows it to operate during the day time and continue for up to 5 hours at full load after sunset.

This is the first CSP project in the country to be developed by local players. Conceived in 2009, the project is owned by Karoshoek Solar One, a consortium consisting of Emvelo, PIC, IDC, Karoshoek SDI Trust, Grazigystix and HCI. The R11 billion Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) facility took exactly three years to build and was completed on time and on budget.

According to construction partner Dankocom EPC, the project clocked over 6 million working hours on site. 85% of the working hours clocked were by South Africans, most of them from local communities.

“Local ownership and community involvement are crucial to the success and sustainability of renewable energy projects,” says Lucy Chege, DBSA head of energy, environment and ICT. The DBSA provided development capital of R1.1 billion and acted as mandated lead arranger and underwriter of the project. A total of R8.5 million was raised towards project development costs.

The DBSA is currently involved in 33 renewable energy projects for which the development investment is approximately R17 billion. For this and similar projects, the bank has created a project development facilities to assist with bankable feasibility studies and also assists with project level funding.

ENDS