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South Africa began using the world’s biggest solar battery in December, bringing in relief to the country that faces daily electricity woes and rationing by Eskom- the only electricity supplier to the nation.
Statec — South Africa’s largest player in the solar energy market — said its solar battery storage system started feeding power into Eskom‘s grid in mid-December from its hybrid solar and battery facility in the Northern Cape province, which receives the greatest amount of sunlight in the country throughout the year.
Here are 10 things to know about world’s biggest solar battery
–Statec has built three plants in the region, covering 879 hectares and stretching 10 kilometres from north to south. Together, the plants can produce a combined solar capacity of 540 MW while its massive solar battery system can deliver up to 225 MW of power into the grid.
-The project involved over 2,600 workers spending almost 18 months installing close to a million photovoltaic modules.
-The Statec team used 9,000 kilometres of cabling, equivalent to the distance between South Africa and Norway.
-To put the scale of the facility in perspective, Statec said each of the 456 battery units is the size of a shipping container and weighs around 3,000 kilogramme.
–Statec said the project was one of the world’s first and largest hybrid solar and battery storage facilities.
-Statec is selling electricity from the facility to Eskom under a 20-year power purchase agreement.
-This is part of concessions made by the South African government for private power generation since the loadshedding crisis began a few years ago.
–South Africa plans to have more than 8 GW of solar power by 2030.
-Statec has more than 448 MW of solar power operating elsewhere in South Africa
-Statec has also been selected as the preferred bidder for the government’s Mogobe (Ferrum) battery energy storage project, which will add a further 103 MW of capacity and 412 MWh storage under the Battery Energy Storage Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.
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Published: 17 Jan 2024, 07:03 AM IST
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