Kathu project is the bid winner of Round B in the third stage of South Africa REIPPPP. Kathu is a 100 MW CSP project with parabolic trough technology and equipped with molten salt storage system that allows 4.5 hours of thermal energy storage and it is located in Northern Cape, South Africa. On December 12, 2014, GDF SUEZ won this project and GDF-Suez is renamed Engie in April 2015.
In April 2015, EPC contractor of Kathu is confirmed as consortium of Sener and Acciona. When asked if there are any possibilities for Chinese companies to join the construction of Kathu, Wim says final selection of suppliers remains the sole responsibility of their EPC Contractor SENER-ACCIONA and Chinese companies have been retained as potential subcontractors for main equipment.
Round B bidding of the third stage of REIPPPP includes two CSP projects: one is Kathu and the other is Redstone, tower project with 100MW capacity which was bidden by the consortium of SolarReserve and ACWA. It is expected these two projects are all possible to start construction in this year.
