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Solar Capital is a subsidiary of Phelan Energy Group Ltd, a prominent South African based international investment and development company. They have a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with utility provider Eskom in South Africa to sell power onto the national grid to help combat energy shortages in the country. Arup were appointed by Solar Capital to undertake a number of key roles to ensure the project was delivered to the contract technical specifications and quality expectations.
Solar Capital was announced as a preferred bidder for the new SCDA3 75MW PV facility in bid window 2 of the South African government large scale renewable energy procurement programme (REIPPPP). The total project stretches across 191 hectares and together with its sister plant (SCDA1), sitting adjacent to SCDA3, the combined installed capacity of 175MW makes it one of the largest PV installations in the world, and indicated as the largest in the Southern Hemisphere at the time.
We are working with Solar Capital to ensure a return on their investment and have delivered a number of services for the SCDA3 facility including construction, quality and commissioning monitoring with full time site presence. We continue to provide performance guarantee verification and operations monitoring to maximise energy yield and overall plant performance over the lifetime of the plant.
Project Summary
75MW PV facility in South Africa
191hectares
REIPPPPRound 2 project
View of the facility against the horizon of De Aar
Building connections
Through our efforts to ensure a high level of construction quality, the project reached commercial operation with a much smaller than normal snag list. We have built a strong relationship with Solar Capital and are currently seen as the technical arm to their company. Our ability to react quickly to any issues that may arise allows us to continue working with the renewable energy investor effectively.
Arup continues to work with Solar Capital on this project in the operations monitoring phase, and on two further PV projects, undertaking the role of owner’s engineer.
“Arup have done a remarkable job in ensuring the facility is being built in accordance to the high quality we have set forth as Solar Capital and within a very short construction period, originally thought to be impossible ” Leon De Klerk Head of Operations, Solar Capital
