South Africa’s Hydra project, thought to be the largest hybrid renewable energy development in Africa, has been inaugurated in the Northern Cape
TotalEnergies and partners Hydra Storage Holding and Reatile Renewables announced the start up of the project on 16 July.
It combines a 216 MW solar photovoltaic plant with a 500 MWh battery energy storage system.
The facility will supply 75 MW of dispatchable renewable electricity to the national grid under a 20-year power purchase agreement signed with state utility, Eskom.
This represents more than 400 GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the consumption of approximately 200,000 South African households.
“We are delighted, together with our partners Reatile Renewables and Hydra Storage Holding, to bring the Hydra project into operation,” said Magali Pailhé, managing director of TotalEnergies Southern Africa.
“It enables us to supply dispatchable renewable power to the South African grid, thereby strengthening the country’s energy security while decarbonising its electricity generation.”
Pailhé also said that the project reinforces the company’s own renewable production capacity in South Africa, the continent’s largest power market in terms of electricity consumption.
TotalEnergies and Hydra Storage Holding each hold a 35% in the development, with Reatile Renewables holding the remaining 30%.
It forms part of South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme launched by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.
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Aerial view of the new Hydra project in South Africa (Image source: TotalEnergies)
