South Africa’s Redstone concentrated solar power (CSP) project is currently on track for commissioning by 2023.
The project, which was launched under Bid Window 3.5 of the country’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement program, will produce approximately 480,000 MW of electricity annually, bringing on much-needed supply to South Africa’s struggling grid network. Developed by Saudi Arabia-based power generation company, ACWA Power, the Redstone CSP project is located near the town of Postmasburg in the Northern Cape province.
With an operational life of more than 30 years and 12 hours of full-load energy storage, the project is expected to supply over 200,000 households with clean, reliable electricity.
The CSP project’s total investment was R11.6 billion, representing the largest renewable energy investment in the country to date.
Following project signing in 2018, construction commenced in May 2021, with the solar power project on track to become operational by next year.
At a time when South Africa has implemented stage six load shedding to cope with inconsistent power supply, the Redstone project is set to bring some relief.
