January 2014
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
27
projects & contracts
SOLARPOWER ISAN
inexhaustible and particularly environmentally
friendly source of energy and an integral part of South Africa’s future
energy supply. Large-scale photovoltaic (PV) solar farms can reliably
feed carbon-free electricity into the national grid at competitive
prices. Ahead of schedule, Rust Mo 1 solar farm, constructed by juwi
Renewable Energies, fed its first kilowatt hour of clean electricity into
the national grid today. The seven megawatt (MW) solar PV plant
near Rustenburg is the first of four engineering, procurement and
construction (EPC) projects that juwi Renewable Energies successfully
won during the first tendering round under the Renewable Energy
Independent Power Producer Programme (RE IPPP).
“This truly is a great start for South Africa’s energy transition
towards a more sustainable and carbon-free energy production as
well as in terms of local economic development. The decentralised
expansion of renewable energies such aswind and solar offers regions
great economic activities and boosts the local value chain,” Greg
Austin, juwi’s managing director, states.
The utility-scale solar farm in the NorthWest Province has a total
module surface of 94 650m
2
. More than 29 000 photovoltaicmodules
transform solar energy into electricity. Each year, the photovoltaic
systemproduces more than 12,5million kilowatt hours (kWh) of eco-
friendly electricity. This equals the annual electricity consumption of
several thousand low-income households.
While the project in Rustenburg has been successfully completed,
the construction works on two other juwi projects are already in
full swing. In the Northern Cape, the Cape Town-based renewable
energy specialist is currently constructing two 10,7 MW utility-scale
solar farms. All constructionworks are on schedule. Both these power
plants are scheduled to be connected to the grid in December, 2013.
The fourth, five MW plant in the Western Cape is due to begin con-
struction later in 2013, once the Eskom sub-station to support the
plant is constructed.
●
In commercial
operation
Energisation of the first solar farm in the North-
West Province ahead of schedule.
In commercial operation now: RustMo 1 Solar Farm near Rustenburg.
More than 29 000 photovoltaic modules transform solar energy
into climate-friendly electricity.
About juwi Renewable Energies
juwi Renewable Energies is a full-service partner in
all aspects of project development. It plans, finances,
constructs, and operates renewable energy power plants
withaparticular focus on thewindandsolar energy sector in
SouthAfrica. Its vision is that of 100%clean energy, security
of supply, and independence from energy imports. juwi’s
networkof international investors andaproven track-record
across the globe are some of the keys to its success.
