The Western Cape town of Riversdale has secured energy independence from State-owned power utility Eskom with the opening of a 10 MWp solar PV plant capable of generating up to 15-million kilowatt-hours a year.

The R210-million renewable project, funded by the Western Cape government and the Hessequa municipality, includes a battery energy storage system with a storage capacity of 10 MWh, as well as a monitoring and control systems for performance tracking and optimisation.

Key contractors and partners include the Herholdts Group, which managed the overall project alongside partner VE Reticulation, from the initial groundbreaking through to final commissioning; CVW Engineering, which provided engineering support for the construction and setup of the facility; Sungrow, which supplied the solar energy and inverter technology used at the plant; and Balancell, a local manufacturer that provided the lithium ferro-phosphate battery components for the energy storage system.

Alwie Lester, special adviser on energy to Western Cape Premier Alan Winde and a former Eskom GM, says the project will allow Riversdale to go without Eskom power for a 24-hour period, should the need arise.

It also allows Riversdale to soften this year’s Eskom’s tariff hikes from 9% to 7%.

Riversdale’s peak demand is 6 MW, with average demand at 4 MW. This is set to grow, however, with a new thousand-unit development put forward for the town.

Lester says the Western Cape is not advocating for any of the province’s towns to go off-grid, but rather to ensure that 80% of their demand can be met by alternative sources.

“This is truly a special moment for the residents of Riversdale. This plant is an important step towards energy independence,” said Winde at the solar plant’s inauguration.

“I want to congratulate executive mayor of the Hessequa municipality Grant Riddles and his team for their determination in seeing to it that this project became a reality.”

Winde said the project demonstrated what could be achieved when government, municipalities and the private sector worked together to address South Africa’s energy challenges.

“Now more than ever, we must use this opportunity to continue enabling municipalities across our province to explore and invest in alternative energy solutions, with a particular focus on making electricity more affordable and environmentally friendly.”

"As a municipality, we believe that communities judge us not by the commitments we make, but by the projects we deliver,” added Riddles.