Shumbasolve, a partnership between property investment company Moolman Group’s energy platform MPower Energy, Highveld Industrial Park and Fledge Capital, has officially launched the 6.35 MW Shumbasolve Phase 2 fixed ground-mounted solar PV project at Highveld Industrial Park, in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga.

Phase 2 will power operations at Highveld Industrial Park, strengthening energy security across its operations. Phase 2 is expected to avoid about 6 000 t/y of CO₂ emissions.

The plant will generate about 9.98 GWh/y of clean energy and incorporates a 4.48 MWh Huawei battery energy storage system.

This follows Phase 1 of the project, which entailed development of a separate 3.6 MW solar PV plant and 1 MVA gas-to-power generation unit. The Phase 1 solar plant was commissioned in 2024 and comprises about 6 200 bifacial solar modules and generates an estimated 6.8 GWh/y of clean energy.

Moolman private equity director and MPower CEO JZ Moolman explained during the launch on October 28 that phases 1 and 2 combined avoid an estimated 13 000 t/y of CO₂ emissions.

Moolman shared that Shumbasolve intends to soon add about 15 MWh of battery storage capacity to the plant next year.

Additionally, he said that MPower, in partnership with SolarAfrica, has already secured a 300 ha site at the Highveld Industrial Park where it plans to build a further 184 MW solar PV plant, alongside 210 MWh of battery energy storage.

“To make our economy grow, we need to have cheaper electricity and I think the only way that we are going to achieve that is by building these large-scale renewable-energy plants in South Africa to open our economy to growth,” he said.

Also speaking at the launch, Highveld Industrial Park CEO Andrea de Souza highlighted the importance of collaboration in making the execution of the project possible.

“Highveld cannot be viewed as pieces in isolation. It's something that has to work together. Working together meant understanding the right strategy to implement and the right infrastructure to put in and this is one of those pieces of infrastructure which is very important. Having the right partners has also been an important part of our journey,” she said.