Independent power producer (IPP) Globeleq and investment platform African Rainbow Energy have reached commercial close on the 612MWh Red Sands battery energy storage system (BESS) in South Africa.
The Red Sands BESS commercial close has been achieved by signing project agreements with the Department of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA).
Globeleq claims this makes the Red Sands project Africa’s largest standalone BESS asset to have reached commercial close, highlighting the growing importance of battery storage in the region’s energy transition.
Jonathan Hoffman, Globeleq’s CEO, said the commercial close on the BESS project is a “landmark moment” for the business and the broader battery energy storage market on the African continent.
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“It highlights our ability to deliver large-scale, clean energy infrastructure that meets the continent’s evolving power needs. Building on over a decade of renewable energy leadership in South Africa and our Cuamba solar-plus-storage plant in Mozambique, we’re integrating battery storage across our portfolio to support resilient, low-carbon power systems across Africa.”
BESS procurement programme and selection process
The 153MW/612MWh Red Sands BESS was one of the five successful project bids selected by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) of South Africa in the first window of the DMRE’s Battery Energy Storage IPP Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP), which ran in 2024.
The programme seeks to establish an installed base of BESS assets to benefit the grid operated by national utility Eskom. So far, three windows of the BESIPPPP have been held to award 15-year power purchase agreement (PPA) type contracts with Eskom.
The most recent concluded last month, with five BESS, totalling 616MW of capacity, successful.
Globeleq participated in the third window, bidding for 123MW of contracted BESS capacity but was unsuccessful. In November 2024, 33 bidders were revealed, awaiting the government’s selection.
Implementation timeline and technical details
The Red Sands BESS will be on a 5-hectare site in the Northern Cape region of South Africa, connecting to the grid via Eskom’s Garona substation. It is hoped the BESS site will enter commercial operation in 2027.
In mid-May 2025, Chinese solar PV inverter manufacturer and BESS integrator Sungrow signed a term sheet deal for the project. The agreement covers BESS supply and a 15-year long-term operations and maintenance (O&M) service contract, ensuring the long-term viability of the energy storage installation.
Globeleq, an independent power producer with a growing interest in BESS technology, is majority-owned by the UK government’s development finance institution, British International Investment (BII), which holds a 70% stake in the IPP and its Norwegian counterpart, Norfund.
The company’s commitment to BESS projects represents a strategic focus on providing grid stability and energy security solutions throughout Africa, complementing its existing renewable energy portfolio.
