Featured in Harvest Potential – 10-2023

South African agrivoltaics lack spark

The farming sector in South Africa depends on Eskom to power irrigation and other operations but the state-owned utility is not delivering. This year, the country has faced daily blackouts of up to 10 hours or more. For farmers, securing reliable energy is a higher priority than experimenting with agrivoltaics.

By

Bryan Groenendaal, Green Building Africa

11 Oct 2023

Around 7 MW of solar and a 5 MWh battery have been installed at one of the Louma Boerdery farms in South Africa. The company has installed 9 MW of solar capacity across six farms. | Photo: Louma Boerdery

Farmers in South Africa are seeking complete independence from the unreliable Eskom grid and their local municipalities. There is a big switch to self-sufficient solar, backed with battery energy storage and/or diesel-generator hybrid systems to power irrigation and other farming operations.The Louma Boerdery business is one example. Lourens du Plessis, from the company, explains that …

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