Date: 11/26/2017

The R25 million Robben Island project will produce almost 1M kWh of electricity annually for the island.

BusinessTech reports that Robben Island’s solar energy micro-grid has gone live – a R25 million project which will produce almost 1M kWh of electricity annually, significantly reducing costs of buying diesel and transporting it to the island.

Tourism Minister Tokozile Xasa said last week that the launch of the solar-powered mini-grid plant at Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years, is the first step in turning the world heritage site green.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) mini-grid has the capacity of generating 666.4 kilowatt peak (kWp) of clean energy, reducing the island’s reliance on the existing diesel generating system.

The integrated system carries the entire daytime electricity load and prioritises solar PV energy generation, which is supported by an 828 kilowatt hours (kWh) battery storage – enabling the use solar energy on cloudy days and at night.

It is estimated that the system will reduce the use of diesel generators by almost 45%, which means that the annual diesel usage will drop from around 619,000 litres to 344,000 litres, saving the Island about 275,000 litres of diesel per annum.

It has been calculated that this project will save the fiscal an estimated amount of almost R5 million per annum, which means that this project will pay for itself within five years.

Canadian Solar modules was used as the panel manufacturer choice.

The solar PV farm consists of 1,960 Canadian Solar high-efficiency modules with a total of 666.4 kW power supply. Robben Island uses almost 2 million kWh of electricity annually.

It is understood that the micro-grid on Robbin Island is the largest combined solar and lithium-ion storage micro-grid system in South Africa, and shows that an affordable and clean energy future is possible for off grid communities.

Orbic Solar use similar technologies as was used at Robbin Island’s project ,  in our designs are based on the latest proven technologies. Orbic Solar also provides the investor with PPA agreements and other financial solution to assist you with your funding process.

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