The Umoyilanga hybrid renewable energy project, developed by EDF Power Solutions, has reached the provisional commercial operations date for its Dassiesridge facility in the Eastern Cape, enabling the project to begin delivering firm capacity to the national grid under a power purchase agreement with the National Transmission Company South Africa.
The milestone was achieved on December 5 and marks the first operational phase of the project, which was procured under the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
Umoyilanga is configured to operate as a virtual power plant combining wind, solar PV and battery storage across two geographically separated sites, EDF says. Under the power purchase agreement, the hybrid system is designed to provide up to 75 MW of dispatchable capacity between 05:00 and 21:30 using coordinated dispatch supported by battery storage.
According to EDF, the Dassiesridge plant will deliver net dependable capacity of 55 MW to the grid during the provisional period. The facility comprises 63 MW of wind generation and 45 MW of battery storage.
The project also includes the Avondale plant in the Northern Cape, which will add 115 MW of solar PV and 30 MW of battery storage once commissioned. Together, the two sites will operate as a single hybrid asset providing firm, dispatchable renewable power.
Construction of the Dassiesridge facility was completed over a two-year period. During provisional operations, energy dispatch will be optimised from the Eastern Cape site while outstanding commissioning activities continue at Avondale, EDF says.
The full commercial operations date for the Umoyilanga project is expected once the Avondale plant is commissioned, which the project company has indicated is targeted for early this year.
