South Africa could produce its first concentrating solar power from a mooted solar farm by 2012

State-owned Eskom, which is spending billions of dollars to build and upgrade existing coal-fired power plants, wants to diversify the energy mix of Africa’s largest economy towards cleaner sources such as solar power and wind energy.

Eskom submitted a $350 million loan application to the World Bank, the African Development Bank and other co-financiers — through the Clean Technology Fund (CTF) — to finance a 100 megawatt concentrated solar power plant and a separate 100 MW wind power plant.

"The CTF appraisal team was in South Africa (between) 7 February and 12 February 2011 and the final outcome is expected in June 2011 at the very latest," Sibusiso Ndebele, transport minister and chairman of government’s infrastructure development cluster, told a media briefing.

South Africa could produce its first concentrating solar power from a mooted solar farm by 2012, and depending on investor appetite, eventually supplying 5,000 MW of power as a viable and cost-effective alternative to energy from coal.

www.eskom.co.za/