INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Green Technology
SOLA Group achieves goal of producing 1-billion kWh of renewable energy generation
Renewable energy solutions provider SOLA Group has announced that it achieved its ambitious goal of producing 1-billion kilowatt hours , kWh of renewable energy generation by 2025 , a month early , having hit the target at the start of December this year . This impressive milestone represents a significant contribution to South Africa ’ s renewable energy capacity and the country ’ s transition towards a more sustainable energy mix , says SOLA Managing Director , Katherine Persson .
“ 1-billion kWh is enough electricity to meet almost all of the residential demand in Bloemfontein , for an entire year . We produced the overwhelming majority of this in the past few months , showing an exponential increase in the clean electricity we are producing ” explains Persson .
Staying true to its mission of uplifting the communities where it works , Persson says that in the past two years , SOLA Group ’ s four major projects have created 1767 jobs for local workers during their construction phase , with a number of individuals transitioning into longer-term employment during the sites ’ operations phases .
Collectively , she says , the four projects have spent more than R462,5-million on local goods and services in the communities and towns close to the projects , directly boosting economic activity and supporting local enterprises . In addition to this , the projects have , to date , invested R5,3-million in community development initiatives , in partnership with host communities and other key stakeholders .
Katherine Persson , Managing Director , SOLA
Persson explains that policy certainty has played a big role in the exponential increase in renewable energy generation since 2021 .
“ In 2013 SOLA set the target of producing 100-million kWh by 2020 . We achieved this goal on 31 December , 2019 . Then in 2021 , President Cyril Ramaphosa announced an amendment to Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act , which raised the licensing threshold for embedded generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW . On 17 January 2023 , the government amended Schedule 2 again , removing the licensing threshold entirely .”
“ The government ’ s decision to remove the cap was a key milestone that enabled us to scale up and achieve 10 times the generation we did over the seven years prior , in a far shorter timeframe ,” explains Persson .
“ Policy certainty creates an environment , where , if you just give it time , the private market will create value for the country . There is no doubt that the lifting of the license cap was a turning point . Looking forward , if the government can ensure continued policy certainty , including clear and fair processes to access the grid , we will be in a strong position to set an even more ambitious goal for 2030 ,” says Persson .
Expanding on the value private players in the renewable sector create , Persson explains that generation by SOLA ’ s solar plants serves commercial customers , and alleviates the impact of day-time loadshedding on the country .
“ Our plants in Lichtenberg , for example , represent 20 % of a single stage of load shedding . We all know there ’ s been a respite from load shedding now , but until very recently the cost of unserved energy was a significant contributor to stagnant economic growth in South Africa .” p
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