Juwi Energies secures business for EPC of 250 MW Solar Parks in S.Africa

The USD 206 million contracts include the 86-MW Waterloo and the 78-MW Bokamoso solar plants, both to be located in North West Province, as well as the 86-MW Droogfontein 2 PV farm in the Northern Cape.

Leading renewable energy development services provider, Juwi Energies has bagged contracts for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) and Operations and Management (O&M) of 250 MW of solar parks in South Africa.

The USD 206 million contracts include the 86-MW Waterloo and the 78-MW Bokamoso solar plants, both to be located in North West Province, as well as the 86-MW Droogfontein 2 PV farm in the Northern Cape.

The finances for the three projects are to be managed by the African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) body.

Juwi expects to start building the Droogfontein 2 Park in the third quarter, while construction at the Bokamoso and Waterloo sites is slated to begin in the last quarter of 2018 and first quarter of 2019, respectively.

CEO, ACED, Richard Gordon said, “The finalization of these contracts indicates that the government sees a future in renewable energy in South Africa and it’s given the investor community confidence in an area that has been lacking in the past two years.”

Some of the key social and economic benefits of the new solar facility investments include 100% SA ownership, 50% direct black ownership, greater than 65% black ownership including indirect black ownership, and 40% black participation in engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts, and the transition to majority black-owned operations and maintenance contractors.

Additionally, the three projects are expected to create over 1600 jobs during construction and 4000 jobs during the operations and maintenance phases.

MD, Juwi, Greg Austin said, “The RE sector brings real socio-economic benefits to South Africa, offering significant job creation, and infrastructural development to facilitate economic growth and attract investment to the region.”