The groundwork is being done on a mega-project that has the capacity to fundamentally change the structure of South Africa’s power sector. At the moment, the country’s power stations are 90% coal-fired, and two huge new facilities are being built to add to this capacity. But plans are under way to build a massive solar park that will generate an eighth of the county’s electricity needs – 5 000MW – in the Northern Cape near Upington.

Sixteen square kilometres of land have been identified and Eskom is looking for private partners. A solar-investment conference was held in November 2010 at Upington and was attended by 400 delegates from countries such as Spain, India and South Korea. Dipuo Peters, the national Minister of Energy, outlined the competitive advantages of the Northern Cape, over and above its extremely high irridiation levels:
• relative closeness to the national power grid compared to other areas with comparable sunshine
• water from the Orange River
• access to two airports
• good major roads
• a flat landscape

An advantage that the Northern Cape has over the Sahara Desert is the relatively wind-free environment that prevails in the province. A Clinton Climate Initiative pre-feasibility study has found that South Africa has one of the best solar resources on the planet. A full feasibility study will now be conducted with the support of the Central Energy Fund and the Development Bank of Southern Africa. The Eskom-led project is intended to be at the centre of a solar hub that will attract private sector projects because of economies of scale and quicker implementation times if the area is already zoned for solar power generation. The park, which will cost more than R150-billion, will generate 1 000MW in its first phase.

Mining companies in the Northern Cape are looking to concentrating solar power (CSP) to provide power for their operations. Engineering company Group Five announced in 2011 that they were investigating the construction of a 150MW plant near Kathu, the area where billions of rands are being spent to extract more iron ore for export to China.

The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) is supporting a number of projects in the province. These include a 100MW plant conceived by Abengoa Solar, a Spanish company with a global presence, and a Solafrica scheme to spend more than R3-billion on a CSP plant at Groblershoop.