Scatec Solar has announced that it has completed a solar power facility at its solar power complex in Upington, South Africa.

The company added 86MW of renewable energy to the national power grid through the construction of the solar power plant.

The facility, known as Sirius, is expected to produce 217GWh and will lead to the abatement of more than 180,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually, Scatec Solar said.

“We are pleased to reach another milestone with the grid connection of our fourth solar power plant in South Africa, with a combined capacity of 276MW,” said Scatec Solar CEO Raymond Carlsen.

“South Africa continues to be a very important market for Scatec Solar, and we are developing several interesting project opportunities both within the utility-scale segment as well as our container-based solar solution – Release,” Carlsen said.

The 86MW solar power plant built by the Scatec Solar is the first in a series of three projects which will provide a total of 258MW to the national power grid.

The remaining projects are set to be completed in the coming months.

“The three projects in Upington were awarded in April 2015 in the fourth bidding round under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPP) in South Africa,” Scatec Solar said.

Scatec Solar owns 42%, Norfund holds 18%, the surrounding Community of Upington holds 5%, and H1 Holdings, a South African Black investor – holds the remaining 35% of the equity.

Sirius is one of 27 renewable energy independent power producer (IPP) projects which aim to add 2,300MW to the Eskom grid and help to ameliorate the national electricity crisis.

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