ACWA Power extends its Leadership in Solar Power with 100MW Redstone Project, a USD 1.2 Billion inve
Saudi company preferred bidder to develop the REDSTONE CSP IPP which at US$ 1.2 Billon is the biggest investment in the South African renewable energy programme.
A consortium led by ACWA Power, a leading water and power developer, owner and operator based on Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and SolarReserve a leading global developer of utility-scale solar power projects has been awarded the right to develop the USD 1.2 billion Redstone Project – a 100 MW concentrating solar power (CSP). The project was developed in response to the DOE’s Round 3 (CSP) Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) in South Africa. The Redstone Solar Thermal Power project, with the lowest tariff bid to date from any CSP project in the country, is scheduled to achieve financial close later in 2015 and commence operations in early 2018.
The Redstone Project will utilize solar power to generate and deliver reliable electricity on-demand day and night to power more than 200,000 homes with stable and predictable supply; it does this by capturing the heat of the sun (reflected by a field of mirrors pointing to a boiler mounted on a central tower) which is stored in the form of molten salt and then used as required to operate a steam turbine and generator.
The project will have a significant positive socio-economic development impact on the surrounding community and the country as a whole. During the peak of construction and the operating phases of the project, more than 800 direct jobs during the construction phase comprised of craft workers on site and will also create significant additional jobs related to equipment supply, manufacturing, engineering, transportation and other services. Over 40% of the total project value will be provided by South African suppliers – a portion of which will support BBBEE activities.
The project will also off-set approximately 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide which would have been emitted into the atmosphere if this amount of power was generated using fossil fuels.