South Africa, 10th solar power in world: contributes over 500 MW

摘要

South Africa harnessing energy from the sun, connected over half a gigawatt of utility-scale solar power, moving into the world top 10 of countries according to figures released by Wiki-Solar, the leading authority on the deployment of utility-scale solar power- PV power stations of 5 to 10 MW and above. The United States tops Wiki-Solar's list of the top 10 markets for utility-scale solar power, with 349 solar plants together generating 6 498 MW, followed by China (4607 MW), Germany (3428 MW), India (1897 MW), Spain (1680 MW), the UK (1523 MW), Italy (875 MW), Canada (714 MW), and France (677 MW). South Africa is in 10th spot, with 15 solar plants now contributing 503 MW to the country's electricity grid. Most of these plant were built under the first round of the government's renewable energy programme for private producers- and with several solar projects still under construction, and contracts for further projects having been signed, South Africa is likely to climb still further up Wiki-Solar's rankings. In November, the Department of Energy signed agreements with 17 new preferred bidders in the third round of the programme, following signing off of 47 projects in first and second rounds, bringing to 64 the total number of renewable energy projects since December 2011.