Mainstream team dominates S African tender with 1.27 GW of awards

A consortium led by Mainstream Renewable Power has won preferred bidder status for 12 projects totalling 1.27 GW in the fifth round of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

This represents roughly half of the total allocation in the round, which amounted to 2.6 GW. Mainstream said in a statement that the tender was almost four times oversubscribed and is considered to be the most competitive to date.

The consortium, called Ikamva, includes Globeleq, Africa Rainbow Energy & Power, H1 Holdings and local community trusts in addition to Mainstream’s 100% African team of over 100 professionals. The company noted that the success allows it to recruit another 100 South Africans to support the engineering and construction of these plants.

The table below gives more information about each project. Note that they are currently 100% owned by Mainstream, but at financial close the ownership will change as follows: Mainstream (25%), Globeleq (26%), Africa Rainbow Energy & Power (23.25%), H1 Holdings (23.25%) and Community Trusts (2.5%).

Together, these renewable energy plants will generate some 4,500 GWh of electricity per year.

The new win makes Mainstream, now majority-owned by Aker Horizons, the most successful company when it comes to this particular programme, with more than 2.1 GW awarded to date, including 850 MW of wind and solar already delivered into commercial operation.

The company’s global portfolio now stands at 16.2 GW, it said.

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