German renewable energy developer juwi has commenced construction of a 7MW solar park in Rustenburg, South Africa.
The facility will be juwi’s first in the country with the total module surface areas encompassing 94,650m².
Generating approximately 12.5 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of clean-energy, the farm is expected to meet the requirements of 10,000 households in the region.
juwi Renewable Energies operations head Greg Austin remarked that the project enables South Africa’s energy transition towards 100% renewable energy production as well as aiding local economic development.
“The decentralized expansion of renewable energies offers regions great economic activities and increases the local value chain,” said Austin.
juwi had secured the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract from Rustmo 1 Solar Farm for the setting up of the facility near a historic mining town in the North West Province.
The facility is scheduled to be connected to the local Eskom grid in October 2013 and support’s the country’s goal to reduce carbon emissions by 34% in the next decade.
The Rustenburg solar plant is part of the four EPC projects juwi Renewable Energies won under the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme (RE IPPP).