A recent PV Insider
webinar that focused on the project development challenges in South Africa,
revealed the key hurdles that developers are facing to complete plants on time
and on budget



Since the South African government launched the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP)
in 2010 local and international developers have shown a keen interest in this
region. Since December 2011 632MW of PV has been awarded in South Africa, as
well as $1.5 billion of investment from local and international financiers.



In phase I of the IRP the government received 53 bids across different
renewable technologies, and it was confirmed in March this year that this
figure had increased to 79 tenders, representing 3,233 MW of projects in Phase
II. 18 projects are currently under development in South Africa, but with this
number predicted to double by August developers are already facing substantial
roadblocks when moving projects forward.



On 25th April PV Insider held a complimentary webinar to analyse the key
challenges faced when developing projects in South Africa, as well as the
potential for future growth in this emerging solar market. During the session
Davin Chown of SAPVIA, Linda Thompson, Head of Solar Developments at Mainstream
Renewable Power and Conrad Hefer from Cresco Project Finance examined these
critical topics and shared their experiences in this region.



Examining the two projects currently under development by Mainstream Renewable
Power, Linda Thompson recognized that land acquisition, grid capacity and water
availability has presented developers with many hurdles. Linda went on to
explain that the market has become over competitive in terms of players, that
has led to "further competition for access to land and to the grid in phase
II", and that this "could also make projects fall over"



The proceedings of the webinar can be viewed in full at no cost, by following
the link below:



http://www.pv-insider.com/southafrica/content3.php