Enel commissions South Africa solar plants

Italian utility Enel has brought two large-scale solar power plants into commercial operation in South Africa.

Enel has brought two large-scale solar power plants into commercial operation in South Africa.

The firm’s renewable energy subsidiary, Enel Green Power (EGP), says that the Adams and Pulida solar PV plants, located in Northern Cape and Free State provinces, respectively, are now operating.

Both plants have a capacity of 82.5 MW, EGP said. They will sell their energy output to South African national utility Eskom under 20-year power purchase agreements.

EGP owns and operates three other PV plants in South Africa: Paleisheuwel (82.5 MW in Western Cape province, Tom Burke (66 MW) in Limpopo province and Upington (10 MW), which is located in the Northern Cape province.

In January EGP said it had built over 2000 MW of generation capacity in 2016, a new record for the firm and double the level reached in 2015. Earlier this month it announced it had started construction on the 292 MW Nova Olinda solar farm in Brazil’s Piauí state.