Sector changes help company contribute to local growth

Recent regulatory changes in the local energy sector – such as the lifting of the licensing threshold for independent power generation – will help boost solar energy equipment supplier GameChange Solar’s involvement in energy projects.

“The lifting of the threshold, however, is not a switch that allow for projects to move instantly,” says GameChange Solar Southern Africa regional director Russ Bowden, adding that projects larger than 100 MW are large investments with many stakeholders, as such projects require prudent planning and execution to ensure a sound investment.

He warns, however, that offtakers for these projects generally follow a cautious approach to signing a power purchase agreement (PPA) exceeding 20 years and have to ensure that the energy projections are “economically sound”.

Further, being tied to the national energy grid and energy wheeling arrangements with State-owned power utility Eskom can be a slow process, stresses Bowden.

“However, we see a number of projects that have been working through this process and expect to see a lot of activity in the near future. “We are in discussions with engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies and project developers in the mining and private sector, and we expect to see these projects moving forward soon.”

He also emphasises that, after financial close of a project, it can take another two years to build; therefore, it will take some time before embedded-generation projects are implemented and provide benefits such as mitigating the impact of loadshedding.

“We expect to see this project development ramping up, as well as 5 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) being built over the next three to four years. “GameChange Solar is an original-equipment manufacturer for racking and tracking structures for solar farms. “We do this well and supply a cost-effective and reliable product to developers; our key is to help achieve a lower levelised cost of energy for developers.”

Despite changes in the energy sector announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation Address this February – such as introducing a new Department of Electricity, and an Electricity Minister – Bowden says awarding independent power producers projects, which has been done through the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP), has not been the subject of any announced changes.

GameChange Solar hopes that the new Energy Minister will help facilitate and accelerate the process of REIPPPP and private-sector projects by eliminating bottlenecks in the processes involved in reaching finality.

“If projects are rolled out more continuously, this would be good for our business, our manufacturing partners’ businesses, job creation and the country.”

Since GameChange Solar established a branch in South Africa in January 2021, the company is setting up a local training centre to allow for skills transfer in the civil and mechanical engineering fields of solar farm construction.

Bowden says this training centre is another step in the process to strengthen the company’s foundation and show its commitment to South Africa in the skills transfer required for the energy transition.

“Since opening up local offices, we have spent significant time and resources in setting up manufacturing partnerships and building a strong presence in South Africa with EPCs and project developers. “The announcement of the training centre – which should be operational in May – has been well received by EPCs, developers and local installers.”

Further, he points out that GameChange Solar has a global procurement policy to partner with local manufacturers that have the capability and capacity to manufacture components to the company’s strict quality standards, consequently also enabling the company to further contribute to job creation.

Bowden stresses that the company’s goal is to decrease the cost of solar PV.

One of the company’s key performance factors is the speed and ease with which its products are installed. By providing adequate training, GameChange Solar will “enhance its mission and add value” to its clients’ projects and the Just Energy Transition.

The company is constantly improving its products and “keeping ahead of changes on module sizes” to reduce costs.

He adds that solar tracking systems are particularly in demand locally, owing to the 18% to 22% additional energy they provide, with only about an 8% increase in project cost when compared to static racking systems.

GameChange Solar’s robust and low maintenance tracking system products – together with a high availability factor exceeding 99.5% – offer the local market “ideal value for money”.