In a further attempt to fulfil its promise of making Stellenbosch load shedding free, Stellenbosch Municipality installed the first sets of solar panels on municipal property, including the main building, town hall, the municipal depot, the traffic department and Van Der Stel Sports Grounds.
This according to the municipality spokesperson, Stuart Grobbelaar, who added that the installation of these solar panels is expected to be completed by 30 June.
“We are well on track with the current project and on schedule to finish by end of June 2022 as planned,” said Hugo Götze, Director for the Western Cape of Motla Consulting Engineers, the contractor appointed by the municipality for the project.
The panels will produce roughly 400 kw of electricity per day, said Stellenbosch Mayor Gesie van Deventer in a media statement.
“Although this is only a small drop in the vast ocean that is Eskom’s unreliable energy supply, it is a massive step in the right direction for our town,” she said.
The process started in 2021 when Stellenbosch Municipality partnered with the Western Cape Government, Stellenbosch University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to launch a feasibility study into various alternative sources of energy.
“Stellenbosch is one of six Western Cape municipalities identified by the Western Cape Government as part of its Municipal Energy Resilience [MER] project,” said Grobbelaar.
He said a feasibility study report on the next phase must be served before the municipality’s council.
“[This includes] various proposals on generating electricity through other sources such as solar, wind, methane gas conversion at landfill sites, buying from independent power producers, and so on. Afterwards this will be open for public input and participation.”
The MER project will assist municipalities to become more resilient in terms of energy generation.
“I am pleased to hear that we are able to support Stellenbosch Municipality through the MER Project,” said the Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, David Maynier, in a media statement in 2021, “and I look forward to our continued efforts to do everything we can to support other municipalities to participate in the growing green energy sector so that together we can create a more energy resilient future in the Western Cape.”
