Pretoria - Solar power is an innovation that provides sustainable social and economic value, North West Premier Thandi Modise said ahead of the launch of the first solar energy farm tomorrow.
“This ground-breaking launch attests to progress registered towards removing barriers towards the uptake of renewable energy technologies through the creation of strategic, financial, technical and other enabling environments,” said Modise on Monday.
The launch of the solar energy farm, the first renewable energy project in the North West province is scheduled to take place tomorrow. Located at Buffelspoort, RustMo1 Solar Farm is a 7 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) power generation facility.
Minister of Energy, Dipuo Peters will launch the project that will supply power to the Eskom grid.
The project includes the installation of 11 inverters and 29 808 photovoltaic solar modules, with a step up transformer to connect to the 88kV substation. The farm will produce 244 643 MWh of energy over the 20 year contract period. Commercial operations at the farm are scheduled for November 2013.
The development of the farm was awarded to Momentous Energy, a South African black-owned development company.
“We appreciate that the Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (IPPPP) launched by Minister Peters’ department in 2011 to stimulate the renewable energy industry across the country also holds substantial potential for the province,” said Modise.
“Solar energy is a solution that will not only provide an answer to alternate energy sources but it is an innovation that provides sustainable social and economic value because energy is a key driver to generate growth, development and employment,” she added.
A total 15 projects are being developed for the province under the IPPPP programme with the Rust Mo1 solar PV plant being the first to be approved.
Other solar PV projects ranging from 5-340 MW earmarked for Brits; Christiana; Taung; Rustenburg; Vryburg; Mahikeng; Tswaing and Orkney are at various stages of the bidding and planning process for implementation. - SAnews.gov.za
