The African Development Bank, Agence Française de Développement, Clean Technology Fund (CTF), KfW and the World Bank are co-financing the project, which is close to Upington.
EIB said CSP utilizes several technologies to concentrate the sun’s energy via large mirrors and uses the concentrated thermal electricity to produce steam to drive a conventional steam turbine for power generation.
Eskom senior general manager for renewables Ayanda Nakedi said: "Eskom is committed to investing in projects that will diversify our energy mix, including renewable resources.
"The potential to deploy CSP technologies on a large scale is promising, and we are pleased to have taken another step forward in funding our Upington solar plant with this loan agreement."
EIB vice president Pim van Ballekom said: "Energy is essential for economic activity and investment in new renewable energy generation capacity can harness South Africa’s natural resources.
"The European Investment Bank is pleased to work with Eskom to support the CSP plant that will act as a model for similar schemes elsewhere and looks forward to continued engagement in South Africa under a new mandate agreed earlier this year."
The EIB has recently signed a ZAR1.4bn contract ($130m) with the Development Bank of Southern Africa to finance the 100MW !Ka Xu CSP plant in the Northern Cape.
Image: The EIB will support Eskom’s 100MW CSP plant in the Northern Cape, South Africa. Photo: Courtesy of Naypong/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
