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1 MWp Solar Farm for George Progressing

From left: Jandré van Zyl (VE Reticulation – Electrical Contractors), Deon Esterhuysen (Electro-Technical Services: Manager Project Execution), Alderman Leon van Wyk (Executive Mayor of George) Councillor Nosicelo Mbete (Portfolio Councillor for Electrotechnical Services & Fleet Management), Danie Greeff (Electro-Technical Services: Deputy Director – Planning & Design) and Jacques van Zyl (Lyners Consulting Engineers)

The completion date for the commissioning of the 1 MWp solar farm located in the George Industrial area has been set at January 2024. The Executive Mayor of George, Alderman Leon van Wyk accompanied by the Portfolio Councillor for Electrotechnical Services and Fleet Management Nosicelo Mbete officially celebrated the start of construction at the 1ha open land in April this year.

The Municipality is investigating various options to get the city and its residents freed of at least one stage, that is two hours of loadshedding. The implementation of this three-pronged operational approach to significantly reduce our reliance on energy supply from Eskom has three focus areas: one being Energy Efficiency, another Own-Build Programme, and finally the procurement of energy from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). George uses at peak times up to 85MVA per day. This 1MWp PV Plant is the first phase of Solar PV plants for George that will feed directly into the Municipal grid.

The Solar plants being installed in George will provide own generation and reduce Eskom energy consumption. This will also serve as large-scale generation to keep future dispatchable Battery Energy Storage Systems charged. This will also assist us in achieving our goal of reducing internal electricity costs and increasing sustainability.

The renewable energy power that will be generated through this plant, will be connected to the grid to reduce the municipal bulk purchases and will only support the immediate George area. The 1MWp PV plant will consist of approximately 1728 PV Panels & 10 x 110kW inverters at a total cost of R 24 843 090.36. The plant is expected to generate in the order of 1780 MWh per year.