Two ground-mounted solar power projects totaling 33 megawatts are underway in South Africa, a joint venture between AE-AMD Renewable Energy and Tenesol, a subsidiary of SunPower. Tenesol will construct both projects, located near Douglas, South Africa in the Northern Cape Province. The ground-mounted solar systems will feature 138,000 Tenesol TE 240 photovoltaic solar panels on single-axis trackers. The solar panels are being produced at the Cape Town manufacturing facility which has been in operation for more than a decade, and has 3BBBEE rating.

Herbert, a 22-MW project, has begun construction, and groundbreaking for the 11-MW Greefspan project will begin soon. They are both part of the South African government’s Independent Power Producers Procurement Program and completion for both projects is expected in the second quarter of 2014. The last step in financing took place on November 16, 2012 when final agreements were signed-off by the South African Department of Energy.

“SunPower’s successful track record of building solar power plants around the world, coupled with Tenesol’s historic presence in South Africa, will positively impact this region,” said SunPower Regions President Howard Wenger. “These two solar power projects will generate local construction jobs and deliver clean, reliable energy to the community.”

Both systems are owned by AE-AMD Renewable Energy in partnership with the IDEAS Fund, managed by Old Mutual Investment Group of South Africa. The electricity created by the solar projects will be sold to Eskom. Tenesol has a five percent share in both projects.