Siyabonga Sesant
Construction of an R18-million solar farm at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) is underway.
When fully functional‚ the green power plant is projected to provide at least 10% of the university’s south campus’s electricity requirements‚ said André Hefer‚ NMU’s sustainability engineer.
Hefer said the only other solar installation equal in magnitude in the metropolitan municipality is the 1 megawatt (MW) installation at Volkswagen.
The project is expected to be completed by February.
Hefer said the photovoltaic (PV) panels will go up following the construction of the basis and supporting structures in about two weeks’ time after the fencing has been completed.
“Apart from the obvious huge financial benefits to the university‚ the solar farm will also serve as a ‘technology park’ to academic units for technology and other research‚ another big advantage‚” Hefer said.
