French energy giant TotalEnergies has inaugurated Africa’s largest hybrid renewable energy project in South Africa, marking a major milestone in the continent’s shift towards cleaner electricity while helping strengthen one of Africa’s most strained power systems.
Known as the Hydra project, the facility is located in South Africa’s Northern Cape province and combines a 216-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic plant with a 500-megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system.
The project has been developed by a consortium comprising TotalEnergies (35%), Hydra Storage Holding (35%) and Reatile Renewables (30%).
Unlike conventional solar farms that generate electricity only when the sun shines, Hydra stores excess solar power in batteries, allowing electricity to be supplied for extended hours after sunset.
The facility will provide 75 MW of dispatchable renewable electricity to South Africa’s national grid continuously between 5:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. under a 20-year power purchase agreement with Eskom.
