Atlantis Foundries (AF) has signed a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA) with integrated energy solutions company Energy Partners (EP).

According to the agreement, EP will engineer, finance, construct and operate the ground-mounted solar-energy system at AF’s production plant, comprising more than 20 000 solar panels and boasting a total rated capacity of 13.5 MWp.

It will be the Western Cape’s largest embedded generation solar project.

EP CEO Manie de Waal says the PPA, set to kick off on May 1 next year, will provide AF with “a reliable electricity source at a substantially reduced cost over the next 20 years”.

It will also align AF with growing environmental awareness in the automotive industry.

“Opting for renewable energy is a significant step, and the system that we designed for AF is expected to save more than 22 000 t of carbon dioxide emissions annually – likely the highest reduction achieved in the South African automobile industry,” says De Waal.

“In financial terms, the system will generate electricity worth more than R35-million per year at current average Eskom tariffs.”

The system, which has been engineered to align with AF’s electrical consumption profile, will replace up to 20% of its yearly electricity consumption.

It will be integrated into AF’s electrical network, which is connected to the City of Cape Town grid.

Excess energy generated by the plant will be fed into the city’s network through the feed-in programme, contributing to Cape Town’s overall renewable-energy capacity.

“With this renewable-energy generation project, we are setting new standards in the South African automotive industry and alleviating pressure on our constrained national grid,” says AF CEO Pieter du Plessis.

“It is a result of extensive cooperation between the AF and EP teams, in conjunction with the Western Cape government and City of Cape Town.”

The project sets the stage for future embedded generation systems exceeding 1 MW within Cape Town and the rest of the Western Cape.