Cabinet this week deliberated upon a feasibility study into the creation of a solar park in Upington, in the sun-drenched Northern Cape province, where it is envisaged that some 5 000 MW of renewable energy could be produced.

Initial estimates from the study, which should be completed by the end of September, indicated an investment of R150-billion would be needed to deploy the full capacity, but that it would be introduced in phases.

In fact, Engineering News Online understands that the initial phase would involve a capacity of 1 000 MW.

Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that the project would require material private sector investment, but was likely to embrace Eskom's 100-MW concentrated solar power (CSP) plant, which has received part funding from the World Bank.

Multiple solar technologies were being considered for incorporation into the park, which would also seek to embrace manufacturers of solar-energy systems for use in the park and elsewhere.

However, the WWF's Living Planet Unit Saliem Fakir told Engineering News Online that there was likely to be an intense debate about whether the park should incorporate a variety of solar technologies, or whether it would be in South Africa's strategic industrial interests to make a specific technology selection.

Should the latter approach be adopted, it might be possible for the country to emerge as a leading supplier of specific solar solutions, which could bolster industrial development and job creation.

However, the risk associated with such an approach, would be that South Africa might pay a disproportionate portion of the research and development costs for a technology that could well be usurped by a rival solution.

It is understood that the feasibility study, which is being conducted jointly by the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and South Africa's Department of Energy, has included multiple technologies, including the various CSP solutions on offer and concentrated photovoltaic solutions.

Similar studies are being conducted by the CCI in Australia and India, while a European consortium is pursuing an ambitious renewable-energy concept call Desertec, which could involve solar parks in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Investor appetite for the first 1 000 MW would be discussed at an upcoming investor conference, which would be "convened later in the year".

Energy Minister Dipuo Peters said recently that the conference would focus on what could be done to stimulate the deployment of concentrated solar power, as well as photovoltaic solutions.

It will deal with the regulatory, financial, technical, skills and environmental hurdles to large-scale investment in solar. It would also deal with some of the disincentives in the current formulation of the renewable feed-in tariffs to encourage solar storage.

The conference would be structured in such a way so as to create visibility of the local manufacturing capacity to supply into utility-scale projects.

The date of the conference would be announced once a time in President Jacob Zuma's diary had been obtained.

Fakir said that, besides the issue of the technology choice, affordability would be a key focus of the discussion, owing to the fact that the capital costs for the various solutions were still considered high.

However, he stressed that it would be too risky for South Africa to sustain its current high concentration on coal, particularly given the imponderables surrounding the future price of carbon, as well as the suitability of South Africa's future coal reserves for use in energy projects.

Another advantage of the solar initiative, was that the capacity could be deployed relatively quickly and incrementally, when compared with conventional alternatives, such as coal and nuclear.

Such rapid deployment could be vital in safeguarding South Africa against the near-term threat of load shedding, owing to the fact that the reserve margin position was expected to deteriorate markedly ahead of the introduction of the capacity that is associated with the R125-billion Medupi project.

Fakir, therefore, argues that the higher costs associated with renewable projects should be perceived as an "insurance policy" against the threat of blackouts, which have serious economic costs.

He also did not believe that water, which is used in many of the CSP solutions, would be a constraint for the first 5 000 MW, but acknowledged that it could become an issue should the park be scaled up beyond that capacity.

But for the solar-park concept to materialise, it would need to be factored into the second integrated resources plan for energy, or IRP2010.

There have been a number of delays to the drafting process, but Maseko said that extensive work was being conducted on the plan, which will provide visibility of South Africa's energy generation mix for the next 20 to 25 years.

He said that there was no exact date for a Cabinet deliberation on the IRP2010 draft, but said it should be "finalised fairly soon".