ABO Isambane Battery Energy Facility and Associated Infrastructure near Excelsior, Free State Province

The Applicant is proposing the installation and establishment of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and associated infrastructure to accommodate the storage of energy. The associated infrastructure includes an on-site substation, roads, operation and maintenance buildings, fencing and other auxiliary infrastructure, that will ultimately connect the ABO Isambane Battery Energy Facility to the existing Merapi Substation. The capacity of the Battery Energy Facility will be up to 123 MW with augmentation up to 200MW / up to 492MWh with augmentation up to 800MWh and is proposed to be bid as part of the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) bid window 3 for the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (BESIPPPP). The development is proposed on the Farm Oudersgift No. 1580, with a grid connection corridor on Farm Oudersgift No. 1580, Farm Excelsior No. 358, the Remainder of Farm Moedersgift No. 566 and Portion 12 of Farm Moedersgift No. 566, and the access roads are proposed on Farm Oudersgift No. 1580, Farm Zon Ligt No. 1584, Farm Excelsior No. 358 and Portion 1 of Farm Cornelias Rust 1403, registration division Winburg. The proposed development is situated within the Mantsopa Local Municipality, Thabo Mofutsanyana District Municipality. The town of Excelsior is located approximately 1.9 km south of the proposed development.

The proposed ABO Isambane Battery Energy Facility and Associated Infrastructure will include the following infrastructure:
• Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), of up to 123 MW (with augmentation up to 200MW / up to 492MWh with augmentation up to 800MWh) required for the storage of excess energy / electricity (including containers, Power Conversion System (PCS), auxiliary transformers and backup generators, crane pads and mats, and a reference weather station), located within an approximately 8 ha area.
• Inverters and transformers to ultimately connect the ABO Isambane Battery Energy Facility to the Merapi Substation via a 132kV overhead power line. A grid connection corridor of up to 200m wide and up to 3.4km long has been identified for assessment.
• IPP Substation, located within an approximately 2 ha area.
• Internal, access, and perimeter roads to access the various project components.
• Supporting infrastructure is required in the form of auxiliary buildings (including basic services such as water and electricity). These include Operations & Maintenance (O&M) building, weather station, storage facility, offices, security control, and a laydown area.
• For health, safety and security reasons, the facility will be required to be fenced off from the surrounding farms, with a fence height of approximately 3 metres.

Province(s): Free State