Mainstream Renewable Power and Partners Awarded 1.27 GW of New Wind and Solar Projects in South Africa

Mainstream Renewable Power (“Mainstream”), the global wind and solar company majority-owned by Aker Horizons, announces today that twelve of its projects have won preferred bidder status in Round 5 of South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP).

The wind and solar projects have a total capacity of 1.27 GW and represent half of the total allocation in the Round. Once fully operational, the projects will produce approximately 4,500 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of green electricity annually, the equivalent of displacing nearly 5 million tons of CO2 each year.

“We are very pleased to have secured such a significant win, underpinning our strategy of building true scale across our global platforms and helping deliver a just transition towards South Africa’s clean energy and climate goals,” said Mary Quaney, CEO of Mainstream Renewable Power. 

The win makes Mainstream the most successful company in the history of the South African renewable energy procurement programme, with over 2.1 GW awarded to date. This includes 850 MW of wind and solar generation assets that Mainstream has already delivered into commercial operation across Rounds 1, 3 and 4 of the REIPPPP.

The Mainstream-led consortium will deliver six onshore wind projects and six solar PV projects. The consortium brings together a range of expertise, led by Mainstream’s entirely African team of over a hundred professionals. 

Mainstream owns 100 percent of the projects. At financial close, ownership will transfer to the equity consortium: Mainstream (25%) Globeleq (26%), Africa Rainbow Energy & Power (23.25%), H1 Holdings (23.25%) and Community Trusts (2.5%).