Name of the Project
Springbok solar PV plant.

Location
Virginia, Free State, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Independent power producer SOLA Group.

Project Description
The project involves the construction of a pioneering 195 MW solar PV plant. 

SOLA will wheel and sell clean electricity across the country to multiple buyers across South Africa to decarbonise their operations.

The main equipment consists of: 44 613 tracker foundations; 3 114 tracker rows; 336 114 PV modules; and 40 inverter transformer stations.

The project will allow for an immediate reduction of 229 000 t/y of CO₂ equivalent – 3.6% of group Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions – and the mitigation of future, indirect carbon tax liabilities.

Sibanye-Stillwater is an anchor offtaker of the solar project and will procure 75 MW (50%) of the plant’s capacity for a ten-year period, with an option to extend the duration through a power purchase agreement with the SOLA Group.

Potential Job Creation
The project has created 525 jobs since it started construction, with nearly half going to youth, significantly empowering the local community.

Capital Expenditure
R2.8-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
Construction started in December 2023 with the commercial operations date estimated at the end of August 2025.

Latest Developments
The project has achieved commercial operation.

This project is the second renewable-energy project supplying Sibanye-Stillwater's South African operations to achieve commercial operation this year. The first renewables project was the 89 MW Castle wind farm, in the Northern Cape.

Key benefits include cost saving relative to prevailing State-owned Eskom utility rates escalating at the consumer price index, or CPI, resulting in expected yearly cost savings for the company’s South African operations of more than R60-million.

Sibanye-Stillwater has noted that the expected yearly renewable-energy supply is equivalent to about 4% of its energy requirements in South Africa.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
WBHO Construction (contractor); SOLA Build (contractor); ABLON Construction (contractor); Trina Solar (equipment supplier); NEXTRACKER (equipment supplier); and SUNGROW (equipment supplier).

Contact Details for Project Information
SOLA Group, tel +27 21 421 9764 or email info@solagroup.co.za