Pofadder power to the rescue

A 100mw solar plant was opened yesterday in the arid Northern Cape, where the relentless sun is proving to be a valuable renewable natural resource for a deprived community.

The R7.9-billion KaXu Solar One, outside Pofadder, is the first solar thermal electric plant in South Africa. It is also the biggest of its kind in Africa and the southern hemisphere.

Opening the plant, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said: "Tonight, when ordinary South Africans put on their lights, put on their stoves to cook food, or watch television, some of that electricity would have been generated today near Pofadder."

KaXu, which means "open skies" in the local Nama language, will add 100MW from the sun to the national grid, which is equal to about 320 gigawatt hours of electricity a year.

"This is equal to the consumption of 80000 houses, serving more than 400000 South Africans. This is the consumption of Mossel Bay, Oudshoorn, Knysna and Swellendam combined," Patel said.

The plant covers an area of 3km². It is made up of 1200 collectors; each collector has 10 modules; each module has 28 mirrors and in total there are 336000 mirrors on the plant. The mirrors track the movement of the sun. The technology allows electricity to be stored for two-and-a-half hours, which means power will be supplied to the national grid when it is needed most - at peak time after dark.

It saved 315000 t of carbon emissions a year, said Abengoa Solar CEO Armando Zuluaga.

KaXu is owned by Abengoa (59%), the IDC (29%) and the KaXu Community Trust (21%).

KaXu is the first in a string of alternate energy sources that will feed into the grid.

Today, the hydro power station on the Orange River will be opened in Kakamas, adding another 10MW to the grid.

On Thursday, Abengoa directors will sign an agreement for the next solar plant.

Already 33 renewable energy plants had been opened and by the end of the month, there would be 1685MW available - almost equivalent to Koeberg's entire output.

During construction, 4500 jobs were created, 80% of them local.

During operation , there will be 80 permanent jobs, and South Africans are being trained to run the plant.

Through the trust, the dividends would be invested in long-term projects that would benefit the community, said Fadiel Farao, chairman of the KaXu Community Trust.