The South African Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy has launched the seventh round of the nation's Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program (REIPPPP).

The government said it expects to allocate 3.2 GW of onshore capacity and 1.8 GW of solar PV capacity through the procurement exercise.

Interested developers have until April 30 to submit bids.

“Bidders should note the available areas of supply on the Generation Connection Capacity Assessment (GCCA) of 2025,” the ministry said.

This auction is the first to be held in line with a plan issued by the South African government in December 2022 seeking to procure 14 771 MW of new generating capacity. The capacity includes 3,94 GW of solar, 9.6 GW of wind, and 1.23 GW of storage.

In the sixth round of the REIPPPP program, the South African authorities selected five solar plants with a combined capacity of 860 MW, with the final average price coming in at ZAR 0.49048 ($0.027)/kWh, up 8% from the fifth round, when the average price reached ZAR 0.45423/kWh. The government had originally planned to allocate up to 1 GW of solar in the auction.

The fifth round of the REIPPPP scheme was launched in March 2021. Overall, the authorities allocated 2.6 GW of renewable energy capacity across 25 projects, ranging in size from 75 MW to 140 MW.

The sixth and fifth procurement exercises were part of a plan to tender almost 12 GW of capacity.

South Africa had 5,826 MW estimated installed PV capacity at the end of 2022, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.