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AsiaElec BATTERIES AsiaElec
Eskom picks Korean, Chinese
manufacturers for $480mn
battery storage project
SOUTH KOREA SOUTH Africa’s state power utility Eskom has and a transmission site. The solar PV capacity
selected preferred bidders for the design, supply will be 58MW.
and installation of its flagship Battery Energy Eskom is contributing 13% of the estimated
Storage System (BESS) project, Engineering $479.67mn overall project costs. The World
News-Record (ENR) reported on August 10. Bank is providing $320mn for the first phase
The two contractors for the $480mn BESS while the New Development Bank and Eskom
project, South Korean electrical equipment will contribute $90mn and $12mn respectively.
manufacturer Hyosung Heavy Industries and The total financing by the New Development
Chinese power transmission equipment man- Bank (formerly BRICS Development Bank),
ufacturer Pinggao Group, will also carry out would be $334mn that partly includes support
operations and maintenance of the project over for phase two of the BESS project, says ENR.
five years. “Through the BESS project, Eskom aspires
Eskom’s multi-site project represents the first to diversify the existing generation energy mix
part of the 500 MW BESS initiative announced by pursuing a low carbon future to reduce the
by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month, under impact on the environment,” said Velaphi Ntuli,
the government’s measures to address South general manager of Coal and Clean Technol-
Africa’s long-running electricity crisis. ogy at Eskom. The former general manager at
BESS project has been designed to utilize Koeberg nuclear plant, Ntuli was suspended
large-scale utility batteries with the capacity over “performance issues” in June 2021 but then
of 1,440MWh per day and a 60MW solar PV redeployed by Eskom in his current position in
capacity to be implemented in two phases. October.
The first phase of the project will be commis- Eskom’s BESS project could be Africa’s first
sioned by the end of June 2023 and will allow large-scale grid connected battery storage ini-
for 833MWh of storage capacity across eight of tiative, writes ENR. Two other such projects in
Eskom’s distribution substation sites, along with development on the continent including Sen-
2MW of solar PV capacity. egal’s 60MW Taiba N’Diaye wind farm and
The second phase – to be commissioned from 100MW Masen solar park in Morocco that are
December 2024 – will allow for 616MWh of bat- yet to be connected.
tery storage at four of Eskom’s distribution sites
Week 33 17•August•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P13
