Germany’s PNE AG has sold a 240 MW photovoltaic project in South Africa to one of the country’s energy companies, NOA Group.

The Khauta project, located in the Free State province in central South Africa, is expected to be fully developed by the middle of this year. It is the first large-scale solar facility to enter NOA Group’s aggregator portfolio.

PNE Group said it will continue to support the project through one of its subsidiary companies, WKN Windcurrent, and has said that the project size could be extended. The group said its project pipeline currently comprises around 4 GW/GWp in South Africa.

“South Africa is an exciting market,” said PNE CEO Markus Lesser. “With NOA, we have a strong partner with whom we are one step closer to a secure power supply through clean energy.”

South Africa’s Free State province is a hotspot for solar development in the country. Other projects recently announced in the region include solar plants operated by data-center specialists Teraco and Africa Data Centres.