100 MW Kathu CSP to enter commercial operation in early 2019
The 100 MW Kathu Solar Park concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, in the Northern Cape, has been synchronised to the national grid and the power station is expected to enter into full commercial operation in early 2019.
Construction of the parabolic-trough CSP plant began in May 2016, following the project’s selection, in December 2014, as a preferred bidder during Bid Window 3.5 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
A consortium led by international energy services group Engie owns the power station, which is being built in the John Taole District Municipality by an engineering, procurement and construction consortium comprising Acciona and Sener.
The Kathu Solar Park CSP plant is equipped with a four-and-a-half-hour molten-salt storage system, enabling the plant to dispatch electricity when the sun is no longer shining, including during the evening peak.
Sener Southern Africa regional MD Siyabonga Mbanjwa says the plant’s first synchronisation signals that the project has entered its final stages of construction and commissioning. He adds that the power station should enter into full commercial operation “in the next couple of months”.
Some 1 200 jobs have been created during the construction phase and Acciona project director Francisco García Bueno says the synchronisation milestone has been achieved owing to the collective efforts of both South African and Spanish companies.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation