Trade Ministers from South Africa and Saudi Arabia jointly inaugurated the Bokpoort Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Project, which has been developed by a consortium led by ACWA Power in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa.
The project marks a key milestone in South Africa’s electricity supply security and CO2 reduction. With its record 9.3 hours thermal energy storage capacity the plant will provide 220,000 MWh per annum power to more than 200,000 homes, day and night. It will save more than 165.000 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions during every year of operation.
FMO has invested ZAR 85 mln in the project, using funding from AEF, alongside two important partners: DEG and Lereko Metier. The investment was carried out as a consortium giving FMO an indirect shareholder stake of 4.3% in the Bokpoort project via Lereko Metier SolAfrica Fund.
“The project has already supported numerous social development projects in the local municipality, from bursary schemes to solar home systems to support for the local high school. There will be ongoing social and economic development expenditure in both the surrounding rural and urban areas but more importantly there will also be a real locally owned stake in the project and a strong boost to development in the area”, commented Mike Goldblatt from Lereko Metier.
During the construction peak over 1300 people were directly employed in the project, with 400 of them from the Kheis Municipality, most of whom were previously unemployed and unskilled. Bokpoort has also created more than 60 permanent job throughout the operating and maintenance over the next 20 years.
