Dawn Group and Avelar Energy South Africa are delighted to announce the successful commissioning of a 166kWp solar PV plant at Dawn’s headquarters in Germiston. South Africa has seen a step change in PV penetration in the last two years with the governments REIPPPP program as well as ten or twenty commercial plants commissioned across the country and even by Eskom. The cost of PV has reduced dramatically in recent years and offers socket-parity for many commercial users now (costs the same or less than Eskom). What makes this particular plant different is that it is funded entirely by Avelar Energy that has negotiated a Power Purchase Agreement with the Dawn Group. Avelar, part of the Renova Group, is increasingly positioning itself as the leading Independent Power Producer in Sub Saharan Africa, building off established momentum in Western Europe and Russia.
This project represents the final phase of an integrated demand-side energy management program at
Dawn’s headquarters that has seen a significant reduction in energy usage. By reducing Dawn’s
dependence on municipal (Eskom-derived) power, the PV plant will save over 300 metric tons of CO2 per annum. It is also cheaper for Dawn than their current supplier because of the reduction in PV prices in the last years.
Dawn and Avelar are now working on similar PV installations at most of Dawn’s other major sites across
the country. According to Igor Akhmerov, CEO of the Avelar Group, “this is a real sign of the industry
maturing. We expect that every small industry or business with a roof of any scale should be considering
this moving forward – it is a huge market in South Africa”. Avelar’s business model is to build utilities and
operate as an Independent Power Producer in Solar PV Globally.
The technology for the project has been supplied by SMA (inverters) and Renesola (panels). EEPro, a
subsidiary of Schletter Mounting Systems was responsible for the Engineering, Procurement and
Construction work and will also be responsible for Operations and Maintenance.
For more information – contact Richard Doyle, r.doyle@avelarenergy.com or call 011 530 8200
This project represents the final phase of an integrated demand-side energy management program at
Dawn’s headquarters that has seen a significant reduction in energy usage. By reducing Dawn’s
dependence on municipal (Eskom-derived) power, the PV plant will save over 300 metric tons of CO2 per annum. It is also cheaper for Dawn than their current supplier because of the reduction in PV prices in the last years.
Dawn and Avelar are now working on similar PV installations at most of Dawn’s other major sites across
the country. According to Igor Akhmerov, CEO of the Avelar Group, “this is a real sign of the industry
maturing. We expect that every small industry or business with a roof of any scale should be considering
this moving forward – it is a huge market in South Africa”. Avelar’s business model is to build utilities and
operate as an Independent Power Producer in Solar PV Globally.
The technology for the project has been supplied by SMA (inverters) and Renesola (panels). EEPro, a
subsidiary of Schletter Mounting Systems was responsible for the Engineering, Procurement and
Construction work and will also be responsible for Operations and Maintenance.
For more information – contact Richard Doyle, r.doyle@avelarenergy.com or call 011 530 8200
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