The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has extended the bid submission date and revised the timeline allocated for preferred bidders to achieve commercial close for the Battery Energy Storage Bid Window 3 of the Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP BW3).

The deadline has been extended to October 31, three months after the original date of July 31.

“Potential bidders will be able to register bids on the IPP website up until 20 business days prior to the third bid submission date,” the department said in a statement.

The timeline for commercial close has also been extended from six months after the preferred bidder announcement to eight months.

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy hosted a virtual bidders’ conference under the Battery Energy Storage Bid Window 3 of the Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP BW3) yesterday, May 9.

The third battery energy storage bid window calls for 616 MW (2 464 MWh) battery energy storage capacity and ancillary services in line with the power system service requirements set out by the system operator. The procurement round will procure five storage facilities that are located within the Free State province.

The third bid window was released on March 28 in accordance with the 2019 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP2019).