China headquartered New Development Bank (NDB) has agreed to a ZAR6billion ($420 million) loan to South African power utility Eskom to build up to 360MW of energy storage in the country.
Troubled Eskom, which has carried out load shedding in the form of rolling blackouts across the country, is believed to be looking at 90 sites in the Western Cape, Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal.
A company spokesman told BEST the company could not confirm the details of the planned storage because it had not yet been sent out to tender.
NDB said in a statement: “The project is primarily aimed at meeting peak electricity demand, increasingly through renewable energy, and avoiding emissions associated with utilisation of fossil fuels. NDB’s financial support to this project will be provided along with WB (World Bank Group) and AfDB (African Development Bank).”
