Atlantis Foundries, Energy Partners sign PPA on Western Cape solar project

L-R: Charl du Plessis, general manager, EP Power; Walter Mubai, CFO, AF; Pieter du Plessis, CEO, AF; Manie de Waal, CEO, EP Group; and Kurt Miller, chief investment officer, EP Group

According to the terms of 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 at a total rated capacity of 13.5MWp.

The PPA is set to commence on 1 May 2024.

“Opting for renewable energy is a significant step, and the system that we designed for AF is expected to save more than 22,000 tons of CO₂ emissions annually, likely the highest reduction achieved in the South African automobile industry," said CEO of EP Manie de Waal.

"In financial terms, the system will generate electricity worth more than R35m per year at current average Eskom tariffs.”

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Excess energy to be fed into city network

The system, which has been engineered to align with the foundry’s electrical consumption profile, is estimated to replace up to 20% of AF’s annual electricity consumption.

It will be integrated into AF's electrical network that is connected to the City of Cape Town's grid, and excess energy generated by the plant will be fed into the city's network through the feed-in programme.

Said CEO of AF Pieter du Plessis: “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.

"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. Thank you to everyone involved.”