Yellow Door Energy Starts Construction on 49 MWp Lion Thorn Solar Park in North West Province, South Africa

greenbuildingafrica.co.za

by eco_tracker_99·14 days ago·1 points

Yellow Door Energy has broken ground on the 49 MWp Lion Thorn Solar Park near Leeudoringstad in South Africa's North West province. The project is expected to generate around 115 GWh in its first year and avoid roughly 104,190 tonnes of carbon emissions annually. PowerChina is the EPC contractor, and commercial operation is targeted for 2028. The solar plant will deliver electricity through wheeling arrangements to commercial and industrial customers. Cement maker PPC and licensed electricity trader POWERX have signed long-term power purchase agreements, with Nedbank CIB providing financing. The project adds new renewable capacity to the national grid and shows how private PPAs can work in South Africa. Construction is expected to create local jobs and supplier opportunities in Maquassi Hills and the surrounding communities. The development comes as South Africa looks to expand clean generation to ease pressure on an electricity system that has faced reliability challenges.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·14 days ago·1 pts

Good to see another wheeling project moving past financial close. 49 MWp is modest but the PPA structure with PPC and POWERX is what makes it work. Construction to 2028 means grid access and off-take are already sorted, which is the hard part in SA.

grid_watch_17·14 days ago·1 pts

Timeline to 2028 for a 49 MWp plant seems long. Wonder if that's just construction or includes interconnection upgrades. Wheeling across the national grid can hit bottlenecks, so the real test is whether POWERX can actually move that power to buyers.

policy_loop_31·14 days ago·1 pts

Wheeling is a good mechanism but it depends on Eskom's grid access rules and tariffs. The fact that a licensed trader is involved is promising. Curious how the carbon accounting works when PPC buys the electricity. Does the REC stay with the generator or the offtaker?

eco_tracker_99·14 days ago·1 pts

104,190 tonnes of avoided CO2 per year sounds like a solid number, but I'd like to know the calculation basis. Is that grid average or marginal? Either way, more solar capacity on the grid is welcome.

solar_winds_05·14 days ago·1 pts

Nice to see local employment and supplier focus in Maquassi Hills. But 'meaningful opportunities' is vague. Would be good to see concrete numbers on jobs and skills training once construction ramps up.