The Jasper Solar Energy Project (or Jasper PV Project) is a 96

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after Jame ...

(MW)

photovoltaic power station A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building ...

, located 120 km west of Kimberley, in South Africa's

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi ...

. Construction of the project was completed in October 2014 and it is fully operational to power up to 80,000 homes.SolarReserve.co
Jasper PV Project
, 2014

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

has a recent history of investing in wind and solar power, and since 2010 has committed to more than US$1 billion in renewable energy projects worldwide. Until 2013 little of this was spent on renewable energy in Africa. A new $12 million investment in the Jasper power project, at a project cost of approximately ZAR2.3 billion ($260 million) signals a change in policy. It is one of the largest solar installations in Africa, comprising over 325,000 PV modules.

Background

Since 2008 South African households and industry endure rolling blackouts due to a severe lack of generating capacity. Only since then has the government been active in looking at new potential sources of electricity. These incentives led to South Africa having the highest growth in clean energy investment in the world in 2012. While it is dependent on fossil fuels, its generous resources of wind and sun have made it opportune to diversify and to set itself the goal of installing 18 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2030. SolarReserve, a developer of large-scale solar energy projects, joined forces with the Kensani Group and Intikon Energy, two South African companies, to develop three

photovoltaic Photovoltaics (PV) is the conversion of light into electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect, a phenomenon studied in physics, photochemistry, and electrochemistry. The photovoltaic effect is commercially ...

(PV) solar energy projects in South Africa. This consortium was awarded preferred bidder status in May 2012 by the South Africa Department of Energy. SolarReserve is busy on two other 75 megawatt projects, Letsatsi and Lesedi. The consortium closed the $260-million contract with investments coming from

, the government's

Public Investment Corporation The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) is a South African state-owned entity (SOCNational Government of South Africa''Public Investment Corporation SOC Ltd (PIC)'' on www.nationalgovernment.co.za) with R2.339 trillion (USD 145 Billion) o ...

(PIC), the

Development Bank of Southern Africa The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a development finance institution wholly owned by the Government of South Africa. The bank intends to "accelerate sustainable socio-economic development in the Southern African Development Communi ...

and the PEACE Humansrus Trust. SolarReserve appointed SgurrEnergy as technical advisor on the projects involving the Letsatsi PV plant at Soutdrif north of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legislative capital Cape ...

and Lesedi PV plant at Humansrus east of Postmasburg.

References

{{Power in South Africa , state=expanded Photovoltaic power stations in South Africa Economy of the Northern Cape

Background

See also

References