Amidst ongoing and sporadic stages of Eskom load shedding, one of the world’s first and largest solar energy storage facilities has quietly begun contributing to the power utility’s grid.
Scatec ASA has announced that its Kenhardt hybrid installation in the Northern Cape began supplementing Eskom’s network in mid-December.
Its solar components supply 540 megawatts of power from three plants, and its battery system can provide up to 225MW.
Scatec is selling electricity from the facility to Eskom under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
Construction of the Kenhardt facility began in July 2022 and included the installation of almost a million photovoltaic modules.
It employed 2 600 people at the peak of its construction.
It spans 879 hectares and measures 10 kilometres from north to south.
It required 9000 kilometres of cabling, enough to cover the distance between South Africa and Norway.
The battery section consists of 456 units, each the size of a shipping container weighing 30 tonnes.
