Solar power is an inexhaustible and particularly environmentally friendly source of energy and an integral part of South Africa’s future energy supply. Large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar farms can reliably feed carbon-free electricity into the national grid at competitive prices. Ahead of schedule, Rust Mo 1 solar farm, constructed by juwi Renewable Energies, fed its first kilowatt hour of clean electricity into the national grid today. The seven megawatt (MW) solar PV plant near Rustenburg is the first of four engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects that juwi Renewable Energies successfully won during the first tendering round under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (RE IPPP).
“This truly is a great start for South Africa’s energy transition towards a more sustainable and carbon-free energy production as well as in terms of local economic development. The decentralized expansion of renewable energies such as wind and solar offers regions great economic activities and boosts the local value chain”; Greg Austin, juwi’s Managing Director, states.
The utility-scale solar farm in the North West Province has a total module surface of 94,650 square meters. More than 29,000 photovoltaic modules transform solar energy into electricity. Each year, the photovoltaic system produces more than 12.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of eco-friendly electricity. This equals the annual electricity consumption of several thousand low-income households.
While the project in Rustenburg has been successfully completed, the construction works on two other juwi projects are already in full swing. In the Northern Cape, the Cape Town-based renewable energy specialist is currently constructing two 10,7 MW utility-scale solar farms. All construction works are on schedule. Both these power plants are scheduled to be connected to the grid in December, 2013. The fourth, five MW plant in the Western Cape is due to begin construction later in 2013, once the Eskom sub-station to support the plant is constructed.
“This truly is a great start for South Africa’s energy transition towards a more sustainable and carbon-free energy production as well as in terms of local economic development. The decentralized expansion of renewable energies such as wind and solar offers regions great economic activities and boosts the local value chain”; Greg Austin, juwi’s Managing Director, states.
The utility-scale solar farm in the North West Province has a total module surface of 94,650 square meters. More than 29,000 photovoltaic modules transform solar energy into electricity. Each year, the photovoltaic system produces more than 12.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of eco-friendly electricity. This equals the annual electricity consumption of several thousand low-income households.
While the project in Rustenburg has been successfully completed, the construction works on two other juwi projects are already in full swing. In the Northern Cape, the Cape Town-based renewable energy specialist is currently constructing two 10,7 MW utility-scale solar farms. All construction works are on schedule. Both these power plants are scheduled to be connected to the grid in December, 2013. The fourth, five MW plant in the Western Cape is due to begin construction later in 2013, once the Eskom sub-station to support the plant is constructed.
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