Envision to supply 660 MWh BESS for South Africa’s Naos-1

Envision Energy has signed an agreement to supply a 660 MWh battery energy storage system for the Naos-1 hybrid solar-plus-storage project near Viljoenskroon in South Africa’s Free State province, the company said in a statement.

The project, developed by SOLA Group with WBHO delivering construction, combines 300 MW of solar PV with the battery system and reached financial close in February 2026, according to SOLA Group.

A separate SOLA-sourced project data box reported larger figures of 435 MWp solar and 855 MWh storage; the 300 MW/660 MWh figures are the ones most consistently reported, including by Energy-Storage.News, Saur Energy, and Energetica India, and are used here, though the discrepancy between the two sets of figures has not been independently resolved.

Envision’s scope covers design, manufacturing, commissioning, operation, and maintenance of the storage system, under a 25-year long-term service agreement signed with SOLA Group, Envision said.

Naos-1 is structured as a wheeling project, transmitting power generated in the Free State across Eskom’s grid to industrial offtakers elsewhere in the country. Sasol and Air Liquide are named as offtakers under long-term power purchase agreements, according to SOLA Group.

SOLA Group said the Naos-1 financial close brings its portfolio of operating and under-construction projects to more than 1 GW DC, with 600 MW already operational. The company has stated a longer-term target of 2 GW of solar capacity and 5 GWh of storage by 2030.

The project sits outside South Africa’s state-led Battery Energy Storage IPP Procurement Programme, which had procured 1,744 MW and 6,976 MWh of storage across three bid windows as of [date needed — confirm with SOLA/programme source]. Naos-1’s private wheeling structure reflects a growing corporate PPA route running parallel to government storage procurement in the country.