The global heads of both Mainstream Renewable Power and Globelec whose companies have, to date, invested in 238 MW of wind and solar capacity warned that the benefits of unfettered competitive bidding were limited and urged government to ensure that the program sustained an appropriate balance between risk and reward.
In fact, Mainstream CEO Dr Eddie OConnor, who is a global renewables industry pioneer, indicated that South Africa should avoid pursuing bragawatts, which he described as projects that look promising in theory, but could not be delivered in practice, owing to overly ambitious pricing. Following three bid windows under the South Africa much-lauded Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), the 20-year tariffs bid on both onshore wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) projects have fallen markedly. Average wind prices had fallen from close to R1.15/kWh to below 80c/kWh, which OConnor estimated to be about 25 per cent cheaper than prices that would flow from the Medupi and Kusile mega coal projects being built by Eskom.
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Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-
Managed & Built by I2M Consulting, LLC | © 2010-