GEORGE NEWS - George Municipality embraces solar energy as the best solution to our current energy crisis. In a statement earlier today, citizens were made aware of the municipality's implementation of photovoltaic (PV) plants and ongoing focus to reduce the town's demand.
Mayor Leon van Wyk provided some insights on George's progressive approach during a digicon of Premier Alan Winde last Thursday, 16 November.
"In the initial phase of our renewable energy efforts we are completing our 1-megawatt (MW) solar PV plant and a solar PV plant for the Gwaiing Wastewater Treatment Works," said Van Wyk. "Our next endeavour is a 9-megawatt solar PV installation, requiring the addition of a 20MVA substation, transformers and switchgear equipment. Technical aspects are being addressed to align with our commitment to sustainable energy solutions."
Van Wyk shared plans for an additional 30MW solar PV and a 100MWh battery energy storage system (BES) to address load shedding challenges and enhance energy resilience.
"We've applied to National Treasury for support through the Budget Facility for Infrastructure. It was unfortunately not approved due to current financial constraints," said Van Wyk. "Exploring alternatives, we are considering private sector funding, potentially through an independent power producer (IPP) model."
PV plants in George (installed or in the process of being installed)
- 400-kilowatt peak (kWp) PV at the Outeniqua wastewater treatment facility
- 500kWp at the PV Gwaiing Wastewater treatment facility
- 400kWp PV plant at the Denneoord New Water Works facility
- 2kWp PV + 40 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery storage for the Electrotechnical Services building
- 4kWp PV + 10kWh battery storage for the Tourism building
- 1kWp PV + 5kWh battery storage for Schaapkop substation
- 1MWp solar farm (ERF464 – municipal land)
Due to funding and process constraints, the municipality has decided to proceed with the inception, concept and viability stages of various specific projects. This would pave the road for project implementation at a later stage.
Some of these projects are a large-scale solar farm; utility-scale batteries; possible wind turbines; hydro generation and hydrogen gas turbines.
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