S Africa boosts grid-tied solar capacity to 503 MW

Jun 25, 2014 - South Africa has connected to the grid 503 MW of utility-scale solar installations and thus entered the world top 10 ranking of utility solar authority Wiki-Solar.org.

The capacity is divided between 15 plants, the organisation said in a press release on Wednesday.

The list of facilities hooked to the grid recently includes two plants of 66 MW each in Lesedi and Letats, developed by US firm SolarReserve and Intikon Energy; SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWR) and AE-AMD Renewable Energy’s 22-MW Herbert and 11-MW Greefspan direct current (DC) PV plants. The four schemes are part of the first round of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Procurement Programme (REIPP).

Wiki-Solar noted that the grid-connected capacity in South Africa is expected to increase further in the coming months as the country will put on stream more plants awarded contracts under the second and third rounds of the REIPP.

The US was at the top spot of Wiki-Solar’s latest utility-scale solar capacity ranking with 6,498.1 MW of connected solar parks. China and Germany came next with 4,607.8 MW and 3,428.9 MW, respectively.

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