The South African metropolitan municipality of Ekurhuleni and BluEnergy launched construction on 22 October in Springs of a 25.6 MW solar plant, a R360 million private investment intended to supply the municipal grid.
Installed on the roof and unused land of the Springs fresh produce market, the project is expected to deliver around 40 GWh a year under a twenty-year electricity purchase agreement. This output is equivalent to the annual consumption of about 6,000 average households, according to data provided by the developer and reported by Engineering News.
The plant will be connected to Springs’ main substation. The city will buy the electricity produced without any initial municipal capital outlay, while the investment will be financed by the independent power producer. More than 100 jobs are expected during construction, in addition to permanent operation and maintenance positions.
South Africa’s Department of Electricity and Energy has confirmed that the project also includes a storage system, the capacity of which has not been specified. No commissioning date has yet been announced.
The installation is part of Ekurhuleni’s independent power producer programme. According to estimates published by the partners, it should avoid around 36,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year once in service.