Construction World June 2019

SOUTH AFRICA’S LARGEST CONCENTRATED SOLAR IPP PROJECT The Kathu Solar Park in the Northern Cape, was inaugurated recently. High profile attendees witnessed the power of South Africa’s largest concentrated solar power greenfield project in operation. In attendance was Northern Cape Premier, Sylvia Lucas, as well as representatives from the Department of Energy and French and Spanish Ambassadors to South Africa, Christophe Farnaud and Carlos Fernández- Arias, respectively, indicating the importance of renewable energy projects in supporting the struggling South African base load.

K athu Solar Park is a Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Independent Power Producer project and was built in less than three years. Cutting-edge energy generation and storage technology is pumping 100 MW into the national grid and providing 179 000 households in the Northern Cape with constant power. Isabelle Kocher, CEO of global energy company ENGIE, the lead developer and major shareholder in Kathu Solar Park, says the company is pleased to contribute a sustainable source of clean energy to the grid, in good time. “As this was ENGIE’s first CSP project that required very complex implementation, we are delighted that we are now able to start to demonstrate the application of concentrated solar power to mitigate intermittence issues of wind and photovoltaic and to continue to prove the benefits of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Plan to South Africa’s grid. The KSP project clearly demonstrates the Group’s ambition to lead the way in the competitive energy transition,” says Kocher. The solar park was awarded under Round 3.5 of South Africa’s REIPPP on 15 December 2014 and comprises a mix of stakeholders aimed at meeting stringent commercial and social objectives. The multinational group includes South African investors SIOC Community Development Trust, Investec Bank, Lereko Metier Sustainable Capital Fund, and its co-investors FMO, the Dutch development bank and DEG, the German investment and development company, and the Public Investment Corporation. The main contractor (EPC) was a special purpose vehicle comprising engineering and technology group SENER, ACCIONA and the Kelebogile Trust.Kathu Concentrated Solar Project CEO, Cedric Faye. “From the outset we wanted to make a lasting social-economic impact in the area. Not only are we now providing a sizeable contribution to the local power supply, I am proud to say that in addition to the 1,700 jobs that were created during construction, of

which 42% of the workforce was hired from the local community, the project achieved a 45% local content acquisition mark. This represents a considerable skills transfer to the area.” Financing of the project Investec’s Andre Wepener views Kathu CSP’s investment model as innovative and one that is replicable throughout Sub Saharan Africa. Wepener explains, “It is always our intention to be involved from the early stages to the end of a project financing cycle. We have seen the benefits of employing this approach with Kathu CSP, where Investec were co-developers, had representation on the board and are still shareholders. This is in addition to being a senior debt provider to the project.” Cutting edge technology The main focus has been to ensure that Kathu Solar Park, through the EPC consortium SENER and ACCIONA, was able to make a positive and enduring difference through innovation and technology, with high efficiency and performance to deliver energy to the South African grid, particularly during the evening peak. To achieve this, Kathu Solar Park uses parabolic trough technology equipped with a molten salt storage system that allows for 4,5 hours of thermal energy storage to provide reliable electricity in the absence of solar radiation. The parabolic trough technology is a patented optimised collector technology by engineering and engineering group, SENER. The SENERtrough®-2 collectors are designed to optimise the power storage capacity and keep costs to a minimum. The technique involves using 384 000 large mirrors at Kathu Solar Park to reflect sunlight and collect solar heat to generate electricity. SENER’s innovative design ensures that the aperture of each parabolic trough reduces the cost by 30%. 

From left: Jeff Tshikhudo, Sector specialist: Energy and Infrastructure, PIC; Yoven Moorooven, CEO Engie Africa; Vusani Maile, SIOC CEO; Paulo Almirante, COO Engie; Cedric Faye, CEO Kathu Solar Project; Mohamed Hoosen, Chief Power and Gas Engie Africa; Sylvia Lucas, Northern Cape Premier; Yves Le Gélard, Chief Digital Officer, Engie; Pierre Mongin, Secretary General Engie; Michael Goldblatt and Andre Wepener, Investec.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JUNE 2019