CAPE TOWN – Close to 2 000 construction jobs, over a period of five to 10 years, could be guaranteed for communities in the Northern Cape should the wholly black-owned firm Emvelo proceed to the next five planned stages of its 1000 megawatt solar power station project.
Upington –The Premier of the Northern Cape Province, Sylvia Lucas, attended the graduation ceremony of the first Operations and Maintenance training programme conducted in Upington which offered the tools and transfer of knowledge to prepare the youth in the operations of Solar Thermal Electricity (STE) power stations commonly known as Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). The graduation ceremony was held on 18 October 2018 and included a site visit to the Ilanga CSP 1 facility.
Located 30km east of Upington in Northern Cape province, South Africa, the 100MW Ilanga Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) 1 plant has begun supplying energy to the country’s national grid.
The R11-billion power station is the fifth CSP project to connect to the grid in South Africa. The Mott MacDonald-Ayesa joint venture (JV) was owner’s engineer to the project company, Karoshoek Solar One, for the construction phase of the project and provided design review and site construction supervision. The JV also had a permanent site presence with a multidisciplinary team.
SENER, together with its engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) partners, Emvelo and Cobra, announces that the Ilanga-1 Concentrated Solar Power(CSP) plant has been completed.
The EPC partners reached the certificate to initiate commercial operation of the turnkey solar thermal power plant project located at Karoshoek Solar Valley on 30 November 2018. This means the conclusion of construction, commissioning and testing of the 100MWe Concentrated Solar Power plant. The plant has been handed over to the owner, Karoshoek Solar One (RF) Proprietary Limited. The plant will supply electricity to the national grid through Eskom, the South African electricity public utility.
Ilanga CSP1, South Africa’s first 100% black developed Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) power plant achieves Commercial Operation Date (COD).
Ilanga CSP1 is a truly transformation project that was conceived and developed by a 100% black developer (Emvelo). Its two top executives (CEO & CFO) are black females, two-thirds of its board members are black and its chairman is black.
The 100 MW Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Station has been conceived as an integrated infrastructure project with a lasting socio-economic impact in the Karoshoek Solar Valley area, Upington.
Technology
Capacity (MW)
Programme
Status
Concentrated Solar Thermal (CSP)
100
REIPPP Window 3
Fully operational
Country
Region/province/state
Closest town or city
South Africa
Northern Cape
Kimberley