Project Sequence For JUWI In South Africa
The South Africa subsidiary of the Rhineland-Palatinate developer of wind and photovoltaic projects juwi has officially inaugurated the largest single project of the company’s history in South Africa. In the presence of representatives from politics and business, the company officially handed over the 86-megawatt Mulilo Sonnedix Prieska PV Park to the future operator. Juwi is also setting new standards in the growing PV roof segment: the company installed a high-performance PV system at a shopping mall in the Northgate area of Johannesburg.
“We are delighted to be able to deliver the largest project of the company’s history to Sonnedix on time after a 14-month construction period,” said Greg Austin, Managing Director of the juwi branch in South Africa, at the inauguration ceremony. Even after handing over, juwi assumes responsibility. The subsidiary, headquartered in Cape Town, is responsible for the technical management of the 125-hectare solar power plant, some 50 kilometers southwest of the town of Prieska. One factor for the economic success of photovoltaics in South Africa is the low electricity generation price. With production costs of around four Eurocent solar power is economically absolutely competitive and already cheaper than electricity from coal power plants. The short construction period up to commissioning also ensures the rapid provision of production capacity.
The electricity network is and remains the Achilles heap of the country. More and more companies are therefore using solar power. “We have experienced a growing demand for PV roofing solutions for some time,” Austin continues. “The potential is considerable. juwi has enormous expertise in this segment and is participating in the growing market for large rooftop systems. ”
More recently, the company took on the roof of a shopping mall in the north of Johannesburg a large PV system for self-powered operation. No less than 9,600 thin-film modules are fixed on the roofs of the building complex as well as on adjacent carports. The installed capacity is 1,056 kilowatts, the utilized roof area 13,413 square meters. 16 inverters are also part of the system.
The client is a real estate management company. Juwi is currently planning a second project with the same customer: the start-up phase for the roof-top system, which is also about one megawatt high at a shopping center in Pretoria in early 2017.
