By: Utilities Middle East

A consortium led by TotalEnergies, alongside Hydra Storage Holding and Reatile Renewables, has inaugurated a hybrid renewable energy project in South Africa’s Northern Cape province.

Known as the Hydra project, the facility comprises a 216MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant integrated with a 500MWh battery energy storage system (BESS).

The project is designed to supply 75MW of dispatchable renewable electricity to South Africa’s national grid under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Eskom.

According to the GlobalData report, the project will deliver more than 400GWh of electricity per year, equivalent to the annual consumption of approximately 200,000 households in South Africa.

Magali Pailhé, Managing Director of TotalEnergies Southern Africa, said the company was pleased to bring the Hydra project into operation with its partners Reatile Renewables and Hydra Storage Holding.

“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 said.

“This project reinforces our renewable production capacity in South Africa, the continent’s largest power market in terms of electricity consumption,” she added.

The Hydra project was developed by a consortium in which TotalEnergies and Hydra Storage each hold a 35% stake, while Reatile Renewables holds the remaining 30%.

The project forms part of South Africa’s Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme, which was initiated by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.

The programme also supports the country’s Just Energy Transition initiative, which aims to decarbonise the economy through greater use of renewable energy sources.

The inauguration comes as TotalEnergies continues to expand its energy storage portfolio.

The company recently secured around €440m ($501.6m) in debt financing for 11 BESS projects in Germany, with a combined capacity of 789MW.