Photovoltaic (PV) project development and construction company Soventix South Africa has been awarded an engineering, procurement and construction contract worth more than R5-million to build a roof-mounted PV plant for printed circuit board manufacturer Bosco’s factory in Edenvale, on Gauteng’s East Rand.
The plant will have an initial capacity of 304 kWp, which could be extended to 560 kWp in a second construction phase.
Construction of the first phase is due to start in July, or as soon as approval has been received from national power provider Eskom and will take between two and four months to implement and commission.
Soventix GM for sub-Saharan Africa Rowan Jacklin tells Engineering News that the start of the second phase of construction will probably take place within the next year, but that will depend on the performance of the first phase.
The plant will consist of more than 1 200 high-voltage PV Jinko Solar modules and 19 SMA inverters. With each module providing 250 W, the solar power plant will produce about 505 MWh/y of electricity.
Electricity BillThe system will also prevent the emission of almost 500 t/y of carbon dioxide (CO2), thereby reducing Bosco’s electricity bill and allowing the company to benefit from a reduction in carbon tax, which is to be introduced in South Africa.
This month, the National Trea-sury published a second policy paper, which aims to introduce a carbon tax for implementation from January 1, 2015. A tax of R120/t of carbon dioxide-equivalent has been pro- posed, with a 60% tax-free emissions threshold and some exemptions for heavy emitters.
In addition to planning and construction, Soventix will provide a consultative service, offering support for qualification for an Eskom rebate, along with a range of other consulting services.