South Africa has announced the winners of the third window of the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), where 616 MW of battery storage projects were awarded in five sites, all located in the Free State.

The winners from 33 bidders came down to just two companies, with Norwegian firm Scatec awarded preferred bidder status for the Haru BESS Battery Energy Storage Project totalling 123 MW/492 MWh.

The other four projects were all awarded to Mulilo, which is majority owned by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), and is operated as a local operation. The South African team was awarded the Merapi, Theseas, Harvard and Everest projects, which amount to 493 MW/1,972 MWh.

The three windows have cumulated 1,744 MW in output power across windows of 513MW, 615MW, and 616MW, each with a four-hour duration.

Electricity and Energy Minister, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said in the announcement that the five BESS projects will require a total investment of ZAR 9.5 billion (US$530 million), with costs falling 40% from Window 1.

Ramokgopa said at a media briefing, “What we are announcing today… is another ‘peaker’ that is going to help us during the peak, instead of relying more and more on the open cycle gas turbines and on burning diesel.”

“We are going to use that excess generation capacity that we generated during the day when the sun was out … we store it and at the time when we need it, draw it. We are going to draw it from the batteries and [it will] be discharged and give us the kind capacity that we need. We are working on ensuring that we have additional generation capacity drawing from the technology that is out there in the world,” Ramokgopa said at a media briefing on Friday.

The bidders, the minister said, expected commercial close for the five projects in January 2026, with full commercial operations by January 2028 at the latest.

The minister also added, in the press briefing, that future bid windows will incorporate grid-forming technologies to support a higher share of renewables (currently ~24%).